The injured juvenile flamingo picked up by the police from Sliema last Thursday was suffering from gunshot wounds, the Animal Rights Parliamentary Secretariat has confirmed.
Yet the secretariat also said “a detailed prognosis” would only be available within three to four days and that it was “as yet unclear whether the gun shot injury was sustained in Malta”, referring to an ongoing investigation.
Conservation organisation Birdlife Malta questioned how the assumption that the bird may not have been shot in Malta was being made before the investigation was concluded.
The organisation said the bird may have been shot out at sea as it was highly unlikely that a juvenile could have continued its migration route having sustained a gunshot wound to its leg.
Members of the public informed the police last Thursday that a flamingo with an injured leg had landed next to Exiles bay in Sliema. The police arrived on the scene and collected the bird, delivering it to the government vet according to normal procedure.
On Friday, Times of Malta spent an entire working day speaking to different members of staff in departments falling under the Animal Rights Parliamentary Secretariat to learn the cause of the protected bird’s injury after sources pointed out it was probably suffering from gunshot wounds.
The information would not be confirmed by government staff directly handling the bird, who said they were not authorised to do so according to procedure.
As yet unclear whether the injury was sustained in Malta
This newspaper was told it could only get answers through the secretariat’s communications coordinator.
However, a response from the secretariat was received after the newspaper had gone to print and so was not included in a story yesterday. The secretariat subsequently objected to a line in the story stating that Times of Malta’s request for a response had been met by silence.
In its reply, the secretariat confirmed the gunshot wounds and said the bird was still alive and drinking water on its own, but the next few days were critical for its survival.
It also said that there were “no reports of illegal hunting around the time when the police were alerted to the bird’s presence”, saying it was possible the bird may have been targeted at sea or even outside Malta.
The secretariat condemned any act of illegal targeting of protected species and warned any law breakers that anyone caught targeting a protected bird would be liable to increased penalties, including a lifetime ban on the hunting licence, confiscation, a fine of up to €10,000 and imprisonment of up to two years, if caught.
This was the third flamingo in two weeks that needed saving. The other two, which were separated from their flock during migration, can be seen at the Għadira nature reserve where they are recovering.