Organisations representing hunters have 'unreservedly condemned' any illegal activities that see the killing of protected bird species.

The condemnation came after Birdlife said on Saturday that the carcasses of 14 gulls, all protected by law, were found on Thursday at disused Fort Cambell in Selmun.

The Federation for Hunting and Conservation (FKNK) and the St Hubert Hunters – Malta (KSU) said they would stick to their policy of zero tolerance in connection with any such act and any of their members found guilty by the competent courts would have their membership cancelled.

Both the FKNK and KSU said they could see the 'standardised campaign' that now symbolised Birdlife's attempts to sensationalise such instances rather than nip them in the bud. 

The hunters' organisations said the public was no longer impressed with personification of animals, and the use of words such as graveyard and tomb in connection with birds was uncalled for and illusory.

BLM's 'discovery' also raised a few questions, the hunters said:

"Was this the discoverers first picnic at the same place since last winter? Why did they make the report to BLM and not as should have been done to the police? Gulls at Selmun rarely fly over the 'grave site', so why would anyone shoot a gull at the water's edge, and then walk, gulls and all, over a kilometre inland to bury it?"

The organisations reiterated their condemnation of any bird crime but expressed satisfaction that even BirdLife was confirming that the vast majority of the 6,500 licensed spring hunters were abiding by the conditions of the spring hunting derogation.