BirdLife Malta has welcomed a court sentence jailing a hunter who shot down four protected flamingos at Qawra Point in October 2021.

The hunter, Miguel Zammit, 24, was sentenced to imprisonment for one year. The court also ordered the confiscation of his shotgun and permanently revoked his hunting licence.

The NGO observed that proceedings had been instituted after a birdwatcher witnessed the massacre and had reported it both to the police and to BirdLife.

BirdLife Malta had recorded footage of the hunter in the sea  as he sought  to retrieve the Flamingo carcasses.

Qawra Point has since been designated as a no-hunting zone by the government.

"This sentence is the result of very well-documented evidence by the birdwatcher himself and the BirdLife Malta official along with the efficient work of the police who arrived on site in a very short time. Efforts by the Armed Forces to retrieve the bird carcasses were also instrumental, along with the well-handled prosecution," BirdLife said. 

"While the culprit is expected to appeal the jail sentence, BirdLife Malta remains satisfied with the outcome which has seen the efforts of volunteer birdwatchers, BirdLife Malta staff, the Environmental Protection Unit(EPU) of the Police Force and other assisting authorities such as ERA and AFM, bring a tangible result – a result which should act as a deterrent for such incidents we have come to see frequently as with more recent cases of targeting of Black Kites and another Flamingo on Gozo."  

It said the sentence should also serve to encourage the government to allocate more resources to entities responsible for enforcing the laws against hunting abuse.