Two Birdlife activists insisted in court yesterday that the protected birds they were photographed handling were the ones they had recovered and treated in an attempt to save their lives.
“It is our duty and our job to recover and save birds that would have been illegally shot by hunters,” the activists, who stand charged with illegal possession of protected birds, said in court.
The activists said that as an organisation, Birdlife strives to save the lives of as many birds as it possibly can after they have been shot and injured.
Nicholas Barbara and Fiona Burrows took the witness stand in their defence after the prosecution rested its case against them.
They, along with another activist, Rupert Masefield, stand charged with being in possession of protected birds after they appeared in a published photograph holding the creatures as part of their work to highlight illegal hunting.
Charges against Caroline Rance had been withdrawn by the police after the prosecution admitted in court that they had been issued mistakenly.
Mr Barbara, the Birdlife conservation manager, told Magistrate Anthony Vella that the organisation either received reports of shot birds from the public or else had members of the public turn up at its offices with shot birds.
He said the photograph in question was taken on October 5, 2012, and sent with a press release to raise awareness about the rampant illegal hunting at the time. He said that in the two days before the photo was taken and circulated, Birdlife had received “an unusual amount” of dead or injured birds.
We wanted to react to the high level of illegal hunting at the time
The photo, in which Birdlife activists are seen holding seven birds, was published on The Sunday Times of Malta, among other newspapers. He said only one of the seven birds in the photograph was dead at the time.
All other birds, except for one marsh harrier, had to be euthanised because of the seriousness of their injuries. He said that when an injured bird is received, Birdlife activists first take photos of the bird and its visible injuries before taking it to a vet. Following a diagnosis, Birdlife send an e-mail to the police, the planning authority and the Environment Ministry, informing them of the injured bird.
Two of the birds in the picture were common kestrels, recovered from Ta’ Qali and Binġemma. The former had a fractured wing and infected gunshot wounds while the latter had a fractured wing.
A lesser kestrel was recovered from Għaxaq after having been blinded in one eye. It also had an injured wing.
The fourth bird, a marsh harrier, was recovered from Għajn Tuffieħa after having been grounded with a pellet in its right shoulder. This was the only bird that the vet deemed to be able to recover from its injuries and this was in fact released on Comino.
Another bird, a honey buzzard, was recovered from the Gozo channel with a fractured wing and leg while the sixth bird, a night heron, died on the way to the vet, having suffered an injury to its left wing. The final bird, a hoopoe, was recovered from Baħrija with shots to both its wings.
“We are not contesting that they are protected birds and that we were in possession of these protected species because our job is to rescue the shot birds and take them to the vet. We wanted to react to the high level of illegal hunting at the time,” Mr Barbara told the court.
Ms Burrows, who at the time worked in the Birdlife office, echoed Mr Barbara’s testimony. “It’s not always possible to save the bird but at least you have to try,” she said.
The case was put off to May for final submissions.
Police Inspector Jurgen Vella prosecuted. Lawyer Stephen Tonna Lowell appeared for the Birdlife activists while Kathleen Grima appeared for the Hunters’ Federation, which filed the complaint to the police.