Following a short courageous fight against cancer, a gentleman hunter and a true friend, Alfred Zammit, passed away recently.

In 1984, Alfred introduced me into the Council of the Federation for Hunting and Conservation – Malta (FKNK), then an association, where I was assigned the position of treasurer.

He was a very good personal friend and besides having been colleagues in the hotel industry, Alfred also helped me considerably to further advance in my academic studies. It took us over two years to co-author the booklet The Facts About Maltese Game-Shooting and Live-Bird Capturing, published by the FKNK in 2012.

I always admired Alfred’s attention to detail, his precision, vision and intelligence whenever he set about to write some piece about hunting and/or trapping, especially if it had to be written in proper English. Alfred’s pen was unique and we have thus lost an invaluable asset in defence of hunting and trapping, since even though Alfred did not form part of the FKNK council in recent years, he was still very active behind the scenes whenever we had to draw up an important report or other hunting/trapping-related document.

Above all, Alfred was a true hunter, an exemplary gentleman hunter whose passion all hunters should follow.

His favourite quarry was the woodcock, a game bird he hunted not just on the Maltese islands but elsewhere in Europe, especially in Scotland. One of Alfred’s last meals consisted of a brace of woodcock, which a mutual friend presented him with. On seeing the birds Alfred’s face lit up and he excitedly exclaimed: “Just what the doctor ordered – Healthy eating!”

May the Lord grant Alfred eternal peace.

See you soon, my friend, and, till then, may you flush many woodcock.