Hunting lobby FKNK has said that a 'stunt' by BirdLife Malta has put undue pressure on the courts as a case on whether the hunting of turtle doves should be allowed to take place is expected to be heard this afternoon.
BirdLife placed a dead turtle dove on the steps of the office of the prime minister on Thursday in a protest action to show that turtle dove are still being hunted despite the matter remaining pending in front of the court.
FKNK said that it has referred the matter to the police because being in possession of a dead turtle dove is illegal and accused BirdLife of committing a crime, the group said in a statement on Friday.
The group also criticised BirdLife for questioning official figures of hunted birds published by the government, calling their scepticism on the validity of the data "arrogant".
BirdLife has disputed the ORNIS committee's decision to recommend spring hunting for turtle dove and quail, saying that the numbers of the previous season's catch - which determines the national bag limit for hunting the birds - is based on faulty data because only 4% of registered hunters reported a catch.
In a lengthy explanation detailing Malta's difficulty in justifying spring hunting with the EU, FKNK said that the lifting of a moratorium on hunting for turtle dove was able to move forward thanks to FKNK's proposals.
It said that during that last ORNIS committee meeting, FKNK said that it had submitted several documents to support opening the spring hunting season, which included statistics that showed that turtle dove can be hunted sustainably in Malta. Some 70 per cent turtle doves that could have been hunted in the spring of 2022 were not, they said.
The FKNK also said that its turtle dove project had achieved its objective of "compensatory measures", with 2800 turtle doves released in the wild between 2017 and 2022 while some 2134 turtle doves were hunted in Malta during the same period.
"FKNK cannot help but feel disgusted by the boundless arrogance, the deception through unsupported allegations, and the lack of respect of BirdLife Malta and their friends, in the face of the Government, the Courts of Malta as well as Europe and the will of all the Maltese and Gozitan people," they said.
A case started by BirdLife asking the court to stop the spring hunting season for turtle dove from opening is due to be heard on Friday afternoon.
The government is arguing that BirdLife is recycling arguments that it made in a previous case which was already thrown out by the courts last year and has accused it of forum shopping.
BirdLife has taken the government to court for its decision to allow spring hunting for turtle dove last year, saying that this is in violation of the European birds directive.