It’s a sad day for animal lovers and volunteers at BirdLife Malta as another bird, this time a duck that was quietly minding its own business, was shot dead on the sanctuary grounds.

“Even though our Salina Nature Reserve is a bird sanctuary where no hunting is allowed, yesterday morning a shot was fired at 7.50am alerting our staff to call for police assistance,” BirdLife Malta shared on socials today. “Soon after a Mandarin Duck (an escaped bird) was found floating dead in the middle of the Sukkursu canal, while an individual was noticed hiding in the reedbed,” they said, noting that the owner of the gun found on site is being investigated.

“It is utterly sad that during this year, which has seen an unprecedented rise in illegal killing incidents, individuals such as the one being investigated feel comfortable enough to enter a bird sanctuary in broad daylight and fire at a sitting bird in such a manner. Access to BirdLife Malta's Salina Nature Reserve is free at all times, with paths around the sanctuary allowing access to residents and visitors around the area.”

“We thank the EPU (Environmental Protection Unit) for their intervention to keep the area safe for both birds and visitors. With government authorities having kept silent all throughout this year on the current trends in illegal hunting and trapping, such incidents reverberate the impunity the hunting community feels, one which has been the subject of an infringement proceeding opened earlier this month by the European Commission.