Updated 4.20pm with Birdlife reaction

A poacher who shot down four flamingoes has been spared jail by a court of appeal, which ruled that the protected species is not endangered. 

Miguel Zammit, 24, had been sentenced to a year in prison and banned for life from holding a hunting licence when a court last September convicted him of having killed the four birds at Qawra Point in October 2021.

The incident sparked widespread anger and prompted the government to ban hunting in the area. 

Zammit was arrested close to the site after an eyewitness reported the flamingoes being shot down and contacted the police.

Investigators told the court that he insisted he had been aiming at a duck. 

He filed an appeal after a court convicted him of the poaching crime and handed him an effective jail term. 

On Monday, a court of appeal presided by judge Neville Camilleri relaxed his punishment.

The court dismissed Zammit’s plea that there were other people in the area who could have been responsible for shooting down the birds and concluded that Zammit was clearly the one responsible.

When delivering judgment the court observed that although the punishment appeared to be harsh, that alone did not mean that the court was to vary it. 

The court made reference to Subsidiary Legislation on Conservation of Wild Birds Regulations which laid down a number of factors to be considered when assessing the seriousness of offences under those regulations.

Those included the impact on the conservation status of the affected species, the protected status of the site where the incident takes place and the possible damage to the ecological balance in that area.

The impact of the offence on the general public, the intrinsic value of wildlife, the socio-economic benefits of wildlife, the public interest and the potential quantum of the illegal gain were also to be considered. 

Basing itself on testimony given during the proceedings and on data under the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List of Threatened Species the court observed that flamingos were categorized as of “least concern.”

According to the IUCN, bird species classified as being of 'least concern' do not qualify to be categorised as critically endangered, endangered, vulnerable or near threatened. 

The court thus concluded that the impact of such offences on the species was “low.”

Since flamingos were migratory birds, their impact on the ecological balance in the area where the incident took place was low.

It, therefore, struck off the jail term imposed on Zammit by the lower court and instead sentenced him to a one-year prison sentence, suspended for two years.

The court emphasised that Zammit would be made to serve time, should he commit another crime within the period of his suspended sentence.

Zammit’s lifetime ban on holding a hunting licence was confirmed by the court.

Birdlife: 'Rather baffling reasoning'

In a reaction, Birdlife Malta CEO Mark Sultana said he found the court's reasoning to be confusing. 

"While one can debate if a jail term was just or not, the reasoning the court gave today is rather baffling," he said.

"A protected bird is protected irrespective of its status and just because it is not at risk of being extinct, does not mean that its protection, or the consequences of illegally killing it, should be less. I fail to see the logic. It’s like saying that stealing from a rich person carries a lesser punishment than if you steal from a poor person."