Birdlife Malta has written to EU Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius about "the desperate and defiant move" by Prime Minister Robert Abela to reopen the trapping season even though the European Court of Justice (ECJ) decreed against the opening of the trapping seasons between 2014 and 2017.

“This is a desperate attempt to bow to a small vociferous lobby that is being allowed to trap seven species of finches under the premise of a research project. Everyone knows that the absolute majority of trappers will keep the birds caught since they know that there is no monitoring and enforcement," BirdLife Malta CEO Mark Sultana said in a statement.

"The trapping season, with the excuse of research, is a sick joke. Apart from this, it is a known fact that the number of birds hunted or trapped and reported by Maltese hunters and trappers over the years is far below the number caught,” he added.

Birdlife said the government appears to be committed to take Malta backwards when it comes to wildlife protection. We have entered a dark age for the environment in Malta, it added.

Last week, 12 short-toed eagles were gunned down, two flamingos snatched from a nature reserve, and to add insult to injury the prime minister handed over the two largest tree-covered zones in Malta (Miżieb and Aħrax) to the hunters and trappers, BirdLife said, vowing to fight the latest decisions in court.