A hunter was this morning witnessed trying to shoot down a protected kestrel close to Malta International Airport, the Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) said.
The shot cuckoo found at Mizieb. Photo: CABSIt said in a statement this evening the hunter fired two shots at the falcon within less than 100 metres of the airport perimeter.
But despite an intensive police search he could not be found.
In a separate incident, a group of CABS observers filmed a hunter at 1.45pm firing four shots in the Mizieb woodland during the afternoon curfew.
The video footage, which clearly shows the hunter´s face, was passed to the police who are investigating.
The same team also found a freshly deceased cuckoo with typical shotgun injuries hidden in a bush in the area. It was passed on to the Administrative Law Enforcement.
CABS said the bird is the third dead cuckoo found in the vicinity of Mizieb, an area managed by the hunters’ federation, since the start of the spring hunting season.