A Maltese Falcon that recently lost its female counterpart to illegal hunting is also feared dead after Birdlife Malta saw some men hunting off Ta’ Ċenċ cliffs in Gozo.
Birdlife yesterday said the bird might have been killed on Saturday at Ta’ Ċenċ where three men with a shotgun in a speedboat below the cliffs seemed to be coordinating with another two men on the cliffs, also armed with a shotgun.
BirdLife immediately informed the Armed Forces of Malta but when the AFM arrived on a patrol boat five minutes later, the poachers headed off to Xlendi at a great speed. The bird was one of a pair that had been seen regularly at Ta’ Ċenċ until May, when the female was reportedly killed by illegal hunters.
The Maltese Falcon became synonymous with Malta in 1530, when Roman Emperor Charles V ceded the islands to the Knights of St John in exchange for one Maltese Falcon per year.