Updated 18 June with KSU statement

Maximus, the Griffon vulture that landed in Malta on a cargo ship two weeks ago, has died in Sicily.

The severely underweight bird was spotted on a crane at the Freeport on June 3 and homed by Birdlife Malta on the request of the Wild Birds Regulation Unit.

At Birdlife’s premises, Maximus was placed in a confined dark space to reduce stress and was diagnosed by a vet as suffering from exhaustion and starvation, before being transferred to a wildlife centre in Sicily.

There, it was meant to be released into the Nebrodi Park, which hosts similar vultures, but Maximus did not live to see the weekend.

Birdlife conservation manager Nicholas Barbara yesterday confirmed that Maximus had died, and while still waiting for the post mortem, said the bird had probably died from starvation.

When contacted by this news­paper, ornithologist Natalino Fenech said the bird should not have been transferred to Sicily so soon.

“The fact the bird was so underweight means it should not have been sent so soon. It should have been allowed to gain weight and strength locally, because the strain of capture, handling and travelling abroad adds to the stress,” he said.

Dr Fenech noted that the bird should have been left in adequate facilities to recover. If, as it was thought, the bird was of Spanish origin, it would have been accustomed to people because, in Spain, most vultures were fed at what are known as vulture restaurants. These are sites with deteriorating meat for endangered vultures to feed on, and there are places in Spain where people can hand-feed these wild birds.

The fact the bird was so underweight means it should not have been sent so soon

The issue was therefore not one of stress caused by the presence of people, he added.

Dr Fenech, who did not seen the vulture in person, did not ask to handle the bird himself as he has very limited experience with the species. His advice had been to leave it in “safe experienced hands”.

Asked whether Birdlife was equipped enough, Mr Barbara said the most important thing was to be well informed. It was the first time it had homed a Griffon vulture, so it had contacted colleagues abroad and “acted on the best advice”.

To reduce its stress, Maximus was kept in the dark, contact with people was kept at a minimum and it was force-fed.

Although they were not sure of its origins, the bird, aged between one and two, probably landed on the cargo ship as it was already a bit weak, Mr Barbara said. If it originated from Gibraltar, it would have spent another five days on the vessel before arriving in Malta.

Asked why it was transferred while it was still weak, he said the aim was to put Maximus in an environment that was similar to what he was used to as soon as possible.

In a statement this afternoon, the hunters' federation FKNK said that any bird collected by or given to Birdlife for any necessary rehabilitation was either killed by the organisation or died.

Birdlife , the hunters said, should have been aware that the vulture was not yet strong enough to be sent to Sicily for eventual release. So now that it appeared that the bird may have died due to Birdlife's negligence, the media should publicise the cause and responsibility of the bird's death.

This incident, FKNK said, proved beyond reasonable doubt that birds' protection was of no concern to Birdlife, which only seem interested in taking advantage from such incidents to obtain popularity and gather more financial contributions.

In a reply, Birdlife said it had always worked hard to safeguard nature and birds for the common good and would continue to do so.

It said it was high time that the hunters’ federation started to seek common ground for collaboration rather than continuously wast time creating conflicts.

What about its rehabilitation centre? - KSU

In a statement issued on Saturday, Kaccaturi San Ubertu (St Hubert's Hunting Association) noted that, back in 2015, BirdLife Malta had taken control of a rehabilitation centre in Buskett. 

At the time, KSU argued, BirdLife had said that the centre would allow it to care for injured birds here in Malta, rather than overseas. Its intention at the time was for the centre to be operational by the 2015 autumn migration season. 

KSU accused BirdLife of being more interested in publicity than Maximus' well-being. 

"KSU solicit a public explanation from the authorities as to the progress achieved on converting rent-free government property for such purposes and question Birdlife Malta’s competence," the association said.