Times of Malta published a photograph taken by Birdlife Malta showing two hunters allegedly trespassing the ‘buffer zone’ of the Għadira Nature Reserve.

It is pertinent to point out that the ‘buffer zone’ is unmarked and is bordered by hunting territory. For all intents and purposes, since the zone is so extensive, anyone could innocently stray within the fringes of the area before realising his mistake.

This is even more likely to have happened since the men in the photo are not hooded and seem to be going about their business without trying to hide anything.

Even more telling is the admission that, after making a report to the ALE, “BirdLife did not know whether they were apprehended”, giving the impression that the two men, out in the open, had suddenly vanished.

Strangely enough, this time there are no close-ups crucial in the identification of these ‘hunters’ since the edges of the buffer zone are beyond the reach of the best telephoto lenses.

Coming on the heels of the Government deployment of soldiers to guard the nature reserves, this looks like an attempt by Birdlife to ridicule the Government’s decision. Knowing that, under the new circumstances, they would be taking a huge risk, it is not likely that these men would be out in broad daylight in a place they know is out of bounds for hunting.

Therefore, I cannot but conclude that Birdlife’s thirst for bad publicity has made a mountain out of a mole hill or that the whole affair is yet another of their manipulations aimed at depicting hunters as law breakers.