Four cases of illegal hunting reported as spring hunting season opens

At least four cases of illegal hunting have been reported by BirdLife Malta to the Environmental Protection Unit since the spring hunting season opened.

In a statement on Tuesday BirdLife Malta said illegal hunting of turtle doves has been recorded daily in the past days despite the official spring hunting season for this species not being open yet.

BridLife set up a Spring Watch on April 10 and since then has documented “daily cases” of shots being fired every morning across both Malta and Gozo.

“On April 11, a Black Stork that appeared in the northwest of Matla was shot at and has not been seen since,” BirdLife said, adding that illegal hunting peaked mostly on Sunday morning in the south of Malta.

BirdLife said it has collected evidence of "at least four cases" which are now expected to be prosecuted by the Environmental Protection Unit.

“In one of the most serious incidents, a hunter in Bidnija was caught on Sunday after shooting a turtle dove with a gun fitted with a silencer,” BirdLife said.

EPU officers were called on site by BirdLife and they retrieved the hidden weapon along with a dead turtle dove.

“Unfortunately a similar case intercepted in the south of Malta could not be addressed by the same EPU team as they were fully occupied with the Bidnija case,” BirdLife said.

The NGO criticised the “minimal” presence of the police in the countryside saying enforcement teams were unable to act on all reported illegalities.

Reports were also made by the Committee Against Bird Slaughter and the Malta Ranger Unit with whom BirdLife Malta is collaborating.

Officers are now expected to increase in line with the requirement of fielding seven enforcements officers per 1,000 hunting licences.

While the Wild Birds Regulation Unit has not published the total number of hunting licences issued, BirdLife estimates there are around 8,000 hunters which means there should be 56 officers in the countryside.

“From experience, BirdLife Malta strongly doubts whether this human resource is available to meet the obligations of this derogation.”

Turtle dove trapping is expected to begin under a “research initiative” run by FKNK “despite no legislation having been issued to permit this so-called derogation”.

“NGOs remain unaware of what will be permitted, it remains unclear whether enforcement authorities such as the EPU and Gozo Police have even been briefed on the scope of this trapping derogation,” BirdLife said, adding it was “a veiled attempt to bypass EU law”.

The trapping of turtle doves during spring migration is forbidden under the EU Birds Directive and the same type of derogation was already blocked by the European Commission in 2011.

“FKNK’s attempt to rebrand trapping as a conservation effort lacks both legal standing and scientific credibility and is backed only by a majority vote of the Ornis Committee.”

BirdLife also decried the lack of statistics on the previous season’s declared catches which regulate whether or not spring hunting can proceed this year. Spring hunting may only proceed if the previous season’s declared catches fall below a set threshold.

“Past data has shown that only a small fraction of licensed hunters reported any activity at all, undermining the legal basis to justify the need for a spring season. Malta is not just breaching EU obligations—it’s mocking them,” stated Nicholas Barbara, head of conservation at BirdLife Malta.

BirdLife Malta is also formally addressing the European Commission, as it said Malta continues to ignore recommendations from the EU’s own Task Force for the Recovery of Birds to halt turtle dove hunting altogether.

“This continued persecution of a species in decline—through both hunting and trapping in 2025—persists while Malta remains under an open infringement procedure on the matter,” it added.