Arrested for shooting at spoonbill

A 19-year-old hunter from Gharghur is to be arraigned in the coming days after he was arrested in Salina yesterday for shooting at a spoonbill that had landed to roost.

The Police Administrative Law Enforcement Unit quickly stepped into action after it received phone calls from residents that the protected bird had settled on the Salina saltpans.

At around 11 a.m., a man was seen approaching the bird and fired four shots in its direction, police sources said. The bird was spared and it was seen flying away.

The man was arrested on the spot. He will be arraigned in court shortly, where he will be charged among other things for hunting during the closed season and for shooting at a protected bird. A speedboat was also dispatched to the area shortly after the incident.

The police also raided the hunter's home where they found three dead protected bird species. Police Inspector Alex Miruzzi is prosecuting.

Last month, a Naxxar hunter was fined Lm100 on being found guilty of killing a spoonbill.

Another 19-year-old hunter from Mtarfa was fined Lm350 and had his hunting licence suspended for a year after he was found guilty of being within the confines of the Ghadira nature reserve on January 9, when there were two spoonbills at the reserve.