A very rare trained falcon was killed by gunshot in Siġġiewi yesterday afternoon as it was returning to the Malta Falconry Centre from its daily flight, sparking anger from bird lovers.

A member of staff at the centre saw the bird come down as it chased pigeons. "It's just terrible - it was a really nice bird - we've been trying to educate people and then this happens," said Matthew Richards from the centre.

There are only about 500 Lagger Falcons in the world today, and they are considered to be one of the rarest species in the world as well as being extremely valuable. The falcon that was killed yesterday was the only one of its kind in Malta.

The Lagger Falcon is a resident of the central and northern parts of the Indian sub-continent, the Himalayas, Pakistan and Afghanistan. The dead bird in question was imported from Kent, UK, two years ago, where it had been bred in captivity. It costs between Lm400 and Lm600 but its price shoots up once trained.

For the past two years, the falcon has been trained to fly from Siġġiewi to seek food and return to base.

Rene Scicluna, also from the centre said he believes two individuals in the area with shotguns were responsible for the killing.

"We approached two young hunters who were shooting at birds at the time, but they didn't admit to killing the falcon. On the contrary, they even told us that the falcon had flown in the opposite direction," he said, pointing out that a bell was actually tagged to the bird's leg to alert hunters that it is privately owned.