Two men were caught illegally trapping birds in the environs of Luqa airport, a designated bird sanctuary, according to the Committee Against Bird Slaughter.

Two large clap nets were spotted by CABS volunteers, who alerted the police. It is illegal to hunt and trap birds in sanctuaries.

CABS said that the police had arrived within 15 minutes and caught the trappers red-handed with more than a dozen live songbird decoys in cages.

The nets were seized by the police but the trappers were allowed to keep the decoys. “We were informed that the birds had official rings which made it difficult for the police to take them away,” CABS wildlife crime officer Fiona Burrows said.

The government has allowed trappers to turn these ecological crown jewels into giant bird traps

The bird conservation organisation said that it had conducted several aerial survey flights last week to document the amount of finch trapping inside Natura 2000 areas.

While areas designated as bird sanctuaries are hunting- and trapping-free zones, finch trapping is allowed within Natura 2000 sites.

CABS said its teams counted more than 200 trapping installations inside Nature 2000 sites in Gozo and Malta.

“These sites belong to Malta’s most important areas for the conservation of wildlife and biodiversity. Nevertheless the government has allowed trappers to turn these ecological crown jewels into giant bird traps,” CABS press officer Axel Hirschfeld said.