The vote will prove more powerful than the shotgun in Saturday’s spring hunting referendum, according to a former hunter and pioneering ornithologist.

“Everyone knows what is more positive and what is more negative. Preserving wildlife is positive, killing it is negative,” said former Birdlife president Joe Sultana at a Shout press conference in Gozo.

“I was once a hunter too but I am not sorry that I changed because I realised that preserving and embracing nature is the right choice.”

Shout spokesman Mark Sultana said that although Gozo had proportionally more countryside than Malta, there were only three localities where hunting was prohibited.

“Bird hunting is very intensive in the rest of the countryside and has a negative impact not only on the birds but on the residents and tourists who come to visit and walk in the island during spring,” he said.

Speaking in Valletta later in the day at the final event of the campaign, spokesman Saviour Balzan said the No campaign represented a sizable group of silent voters who would “make history” in Saturday’s referendum.

“We are a group of ordinary people who have come together because we agree on one thing that’s worth fighting for.

“If we give it a chance, we can have tranquillity and wildlife in our countryside this spring.”