Birdlife activists who stand charged with illegal possession of protected birds they had recovered and taken to a vet for medical assistance, told a court today that their job was to save birds that had been illegally shot by hunters. 

The activists said that as an organisation, Birdlife strives to save the lives of as many birds as it possibly can after these would have been shot and injured. 

Nicholas Barbara and Fiona Burrows took the witness stand in their defence after the prosecution rested its case against them. 

They, along with another activist, Rupert Masefield, were charged by the police for being in possession of protected birds after they appeared in a published photograph holding the creatures as part of their work to highlight illegal hunting. Charges against Caroline Rance were withdrawn by the police after the prosecution admitted in court that the charges had been mistakenly issued. 

Mr Barbara, the Birdlife conservation manager, told Magistrate Anthony Vella, that the organisation either received reports of shot birds from the public or else had members of the public turn up at its offices with shot birds. 

He said the photograph in question was used on October 5, 2012 with a press release which was raising awareness about the rampant illegal hunting at the time. He said that in the two days prior to the photo being taken and circulated to the press, Birdlife had received "an unusual amount" of dead or injured beds. 

The photo, in which Birdlife activists are seen holding seven birds, was published on The Sunday Times of Malta. He said only one of the seven birds in the photograph was dead at the time. All other birds except for one Marsh Harrier had to be euthanised because of the seriousness of their injuries. 

He said that when an injured bird is received, Birdlife activists first take photos of the bird and its visible injuries before taking it to a vet who offers his services on a voluntary basis. After the injuries are diagnosed, Birdlife sends out an email to the authorities, including the police, the planning authority and the Environment Ministry, informing them of the receipt of the injured bird. 

Two of the birds in the picture were Common Kestrels, recovered from Ta Qali and Bingemma. The former had a fractured wing and infected gunshot wounds while the latter had a fractured wing. A Lesser Kestrel was recovered from Ghaxaq after having been blinded in one eye. It also had an inured wing. The fourth bird, a Marsh Harrier, was recovered from Ghajn Tuffieha after having been grounded with a pellet in its right shoulder. This was the only bird that the vet deemed to be able to recover from its injuries and this was in fact released on Comino. 

Another bird, a Honey Buzzard, was recovered from the Gozo channel with a fractured wing and leg while the sixth bird, also a Honey Buzzard, died on the way to the vet after having suffered an injury to its left wing. The final bird, a Hoopoe, was recovered from Bahrija with shots to both its wings. 

"We are not contesting that they are protected birds and that we were in possession of these protected species, but our job is to rescue the shot birds and take them to the vet. We want to raise awareness because at the time there were many protected bird that were being shot illegally. We wanted to react to high level of illegal hunting at the time," Mr Barbara told the court. 

When asked, Mr Barbara said Birdlife sometimes received calls from the police regarding shot birds which would have been taken to a police station. A case in point took place last Boxing Day when Birdlife collected an injured bird from the Zejtun police station. Even in this case, after having been examined by the vet, the bird was euthanised. 

Ms Burrows, who at the time worked in the Birdlife office, echoed Mr Barbara's testimony. "It's not always possible to save the bird but at least you have to try," she said. 

Magistrate Anthony Vella put the case off to May to hear final submissions on the case. 

Police Inspector Jurgen Vella prosecuted. Lawyer Stephen Tonna Lowell appeared for the Birdlife activists while Kathleen Grima appeared for the Hunters' Federation which filed the complaint for the police to prosecuted the Birdlife activists.