Illegal bird hunting last year was the highest in the recent past, with known casualties exceeding 2018 and 2019 combined, BirdLife said on Monday.
In a statement marking the end of the autumn hunting season on Sunday, the society said 210 protected birds were known to have been illegally shot last year.
The 2019 total was 99.
The numbers for the autumn hunting season – which had been running since September 1 – were also double the previous autumn hunting season, reaching 101.
"These numbers are only the tip of the iceberg as they represent only a small fraction of the total of illegally shot protected birds since most of those shot are collected by hunters, mainly for taxidermy, and never recorded," the society said.
"The situation with enforcement and justice still leaves much to be desired,
as witnessed during both the hunting and trapping seasons; with police struggling with resources, and with the newly set up Environmental Protection Unit (EPU) proving to be just a change in name from the Administrative Law Enforcement (ALE) unit, having so far failed to make any significant inroads."
It also complained that wildlife crime cases which it and the Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) have reported to the police are now at risk of falling
through due to late summoning.
It was, therefore, no surprise that in December the European Union announced action against the Maltese government on all ongoing hunting and trapping derogations.
The European Commission is questioning Malta’s spring hunting season allowing hunting of Quail, the trapping derogation allowing trapping of Golden Plover and Song Thrush, and also the trapping of finches for research purposes.
The two Letters of Formal Notice sent by the European Commission to the
Maltese Government also cover the illegal hunting situation in the Maltese
Islands together with the failure of the game-reporting system by hunters.
Birdlife also observed that the Ornis Committee, which advises the Environment Minister on bird hunting seasons and derogations, has been defunct for months. BirdLife Malta formally called for a meeting when the infringements notices were issued on December 3.