Birdlife has called for hunting to be outlawed within 200 metres of schools after a teacher found a protected European Honey-Buzzard shot close to a Rabat school.

A teacher who heard rustling in bushes found the protected bird on Monday near the Archbishop’s Seminary, a primary and secondary school.

Birdlife said the teacher first tried to contact the Environmental Protection Unit but they were unable to help him. Birdlife volunteers then intervened and took the bird to a vet for medical treatment.

The bird conservation NGO said such illegal hunting could be significantly reduced if schools were declared bird sanctuaries with a 200m buffer zone surrounding them.

It has now pitched the idea to the Ornis Committee – a government-run committee which it sits on and which is responsible for advising the government on hunting and trapping-related issues.

“We don’t anticipate any opposition from its voting members,” said BirdLife Malta CEO Mark Sultana.

“Schools should be places where students can learn to appreciate and connect with wildlife, not where protected species are gunned down just outside their grounds.”

Birdlife said the Honey-Buzzard was the 22nd shot bird its volunteers have recovered since September 1, when the autumn hunting season began. The police recovered various others, it said.

Of the 22 birds Birdlife volunteers found, 12 were birds of prey, including species such as Eurasian Hobby, Lesser Kestrel, Common Kestrel and Eleonora’s Falcon.

“In the last two weeks alone, seven European honey-buzzards have been rescued. Other targeted species include Common Greenshank, night heron, grey heron, little egret, Common Hoopoe, European bee-eater and European turtle dove,” the NGO said.

The injured juvenile Honey Buzzard rescued at the Archbishop's Seminary in Rabat. Credit: BirdLife Malta