The Government member tasked with protecting animal rights has yet to answer questions from Times of Malta on his decision to push back the autumn hunting curfew from 3pm to 7pm.

The Parliamentary Secretary for Animal Rights, Roderick Galdes, said on the phone yesterday that he would prefer to answer questions via e-mail as the issues were “elaborate”.

Questions were e-mailed to him on Wednesday after he had asked for them to be directed to his spokesperson.

They were not answered by the time of writing.

Bird conservationists and ornithologists have criticised Mr Galdes’s decision to revise the curfew timings. They say most protected birds of prey will arrive on the island by 3pm and will be flying within easy shooting range after that time as they look for roosting sites.

Several other member states have far more significant incidences

They also claim that turtle dove and quail, which can be legally hunted, are mostly seen in the mornings.

The 3pm autumn hunting curfew from September 15 to 30 had been introduced five years ago by the previous administration to protect birds of prey during their peak migration season.

Although it has revised the timing, the Labour government has also extended the curfew period until October 7.

In a press release on Tuesday, the Government said the curfew would “ensure additional protection during the time when the roosting birds are most vulnerable”.

In questions sent by e-mail, Mr Galdes was asked to clarify the purpose of extending the curfew into the hours when protected birds were flying low and legal quarry was scarce.

Among other things, he was also asked to specify the calculations used when he said: “Several other member states have far more significant incidences of illegal persecution of protected birds of prey including during migration.”

Furthermore, he was asked whether his statement that “many incidents of abuse tended to take place in the mornings, which were not covered by the curfew” did not support evidence that a curfew was effective because legal hunting provided cover for poachers to target protected birds.