Up to 28 soldiers have been made available to assist the police control spring hunting, BirdLife Malta said.

It said in a statement that the first indications that the soldiers were being deployed were witnessed by staff and volunteers this week.

Since Tuesday, Spring Watch teams in Delimara encountered soldiers who were conscripted to help police the countryside. Soldiers can now be seen patrolling the the Foresta 2000 Bird Sanctuary to keep poachers at bay, the organization said.

BirdLife said that this development proved that illegal hunting was rife and civilian authorities were unable to tackle the situation effectively.

“It is surely desperate measures to call in soldiers who have no special training in dealing with wildlife crime to deal with what should be a matter for a properly equipped and trained wildlife crime unit,” Spring Watch coordinator Nicholas Barbara said.