A row over hunting hours within Malta’s first national park has caused a rift between the park’s management board and the hunters’ federation.

This is a Natura 2000 site with activities held all year round. It is a nature park, not a hunting ground

The board is determined that hunting within park confines should be prohibited after 9 a.m. and has prepared a legal notice to that effect.

But hunters are adamant there is room for flexibility on the issue, saying they had presented proposals to Rural Affairs Minister George Pullicino three years ago.

Disagreement between the two parties reached a head last week, when the FKNK delegation walked out of a meeting with the Majjistral Nature and History Park managers.

Board chairman Ian Castaldi Paris said the 9 a.m. deadline had actually been introduced three years ago but the lack of a legal notice enforcing it had led hunters to disregard it.

“This is a Natura 2000 site with activities held all year round. It is a nature park, not a hunting ground.

We’ve had complaints from all sorts of people, including teachers with schoolchildren, complaining about gunshots,” Dr Castaldi Paris told The Times.

He said the management board had sought to consult with the FKNK on the matter but was unwilling to budge on the 9 a.m. hunting deadline.

The position has infuriated the FKNK, with federation secretary Lino Farrugia saying he had been perplexed by last week’s meeting. “We were arrogantly told that the deadline was not up for discussion. So why invite us for the meeting? We presented some proposals on the issue to Mr Pullicino some years ago but never heard back.”

Mr Farrugia said the federation was concerned that the 9 a.m. deadline would be used to set a precedent for other hunting grounds. The Majjistral park covers the area from Golden Bay to Popeye Village. It hosts more than 400 different types of plants, with 12 being endemic to the Maltese islands.