The policing operation for the current hunting season was the biggest since Queen Elizabeth II visited Malta for a Commonwealth meeting in 2005, according to the hunters’ federation.

In a statement, the FKNK rubbished claims by conservationist NGO Birdlife there had been far fewer policing resources allocated to the hunting season than the Government had promised.

Around 1,800 spot checks on hunters in the field had been carried out by the authorities since the autumn hunting season opened on September 1, the FKNK claimed.

The Administrative Law Enforcement unit had been beefed up “substantially”; the police cavalry had been engaged and army officers had been deployed, the hunters said.

It added that it had received reports of a “good influx” of migrating protected birds over the Maltese islands, which safely continued on their journey south.

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