Birds of prey 'massacred' with police presence low - Birdlife

A peak in observed migration of birds of prey was met with "rampant" illegal hunting across Malta and Gozo on Friday, BirdLife Malta said. The organisation claimed hunters were taking advantage of a low police presence as several birds were seen being shot illegally, with injured birds being recovered in the evening and members of the public inundating BirdLife with calls reporting shooting. Three protected species were recovered on Friday: with a dead Hobby recovered by a Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) team from Xlendi, an injured Honey-buzzard found by a hiker in Miżieb, and an injured Common Kestrel from Santa Luċija. Two other highly-prized species that made a presence included a Black Stork and a Lesser Spotted Eagle, with the latter suspected missing. Another four illegally shot birds had been retrieved a day earlier, including a Marsh-harrier and a Night-heron recovered by police. In all, 21 illegally-shot protected birds have been recovered since the start of the autumn hunting season on the September 1. Low police presence BirdLife said calls made for assistance to the Environmental Protection Unit  were answered with a single police unit for the whole island...