The autumn hunting season resumes on Saturday and not tomorrow as some people may have thought, the hunters’ federation (FKNK) clarified today.

The season was suspended by the government on September 20 after several reports of shooting at protected birds.

A group of some 200 hunters held an unofficial protest in Valletta September 21 and a number of them later also clashed with birdwatchers in Buskett.

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat subsequently defended the suspension, saying so many reports of illegal shooting had been received that it had been a ‘race to the bottom’ for legal hunting. He urged law-abiding hunters to report those who broke the law, and said punishment for offenders would be increased.

The FKNK and St Hubert’s Hunting Association hit out at the season’s suspension, describing it as collective punishment.

 A judicial protest was subsequently filed by the FKNK. It said it had reservations over whether the suspension of the hunting season was justified at law, since the extreme circumstances to merit such a decision were not present.

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