Volunteers who were keeping an eye out for bird poachers in Binġemma found their car peppered with shotgun pellets on Monday, an anti-hunting group has claimed.

The Committee Against Bird Slaughter said on Tuesday that unknown people had shot at one of its patrol cars as it was parked on the main road in Girgenti Valley.

“Our team was out to monitor protected birds of prey flying towards the roost in Buskett. When the volunteers returned to their car, they realised that someone had shot at the vehicle from a short distance with a shotgun.

The group shared a photo of the car with bullet holes in its rear lights and with lead pellets still embedded in the sheet metal.

It is offering a €2,500 reward for any information leading to the arrest of people responsible for the damage.

The police were called and the damage was documented. As it was already dark, they left without searching the area, CABS said.

Second incident in one day

CABS said the incident happened just three days after it called police to the same area after filming a protected Bee-eater being shot down by hunters.

Officers from the police force’s Administrative Law Enforcement unit questioned several hunters following the CABS report but did not find the missing bird.

A CABS spokeswoman said hunters in the area were livid about the police search, insulting the birdwatchers and “two exposing their blank backside to female CABS volunteers”.

Monday evening’s incident was the second time in a day that CABS volunteers had to contend with pellet problems.

Earlier in the day, volunteers in Bingemma were subjected to a “lead shower” after a hunter fired four shots into the sky above them. CABS claimed in their statement that the shots were “clearly an intentional threat”.