Seabird researchers were the target of “vandalism and intimidation” in Gozo on Tuesday when their car was peppered with lead pellets, NGO Birdlife said.
Three ornithologists from the EU LIFE+ Malta Seabird Project were visiting a site home to the largest colony of Scopoli’s shearwaters in the Maltese islands.
When the team returned to their parked car at about 6.30pm, they found one side covered in dents from lead pellets.
Birdlife Malta’s executive director Steve Micklewright called it an unacceptable act of aggression and intimidation.
“That it was directed at these individuals, apparently for no other reason than that they are ornithologists working for Birdlife Malta, is of grave concern to us, because of the threat to the personal safety of our staff and volunteers working on this and other conservation projects,” he said.