A flock of ducks living at Salina have fallen ill and are slowly dying, a recent post by BirdLife Malta has revealed, with the NGO calling that the birds be tended to accordingly.

The farmed ducks, which many have wrongly assumed formed part of the nearby Salina Nature Reserve, have been tended to for the past few years by an individual. However, the situation has recently changed: "...we have in the last weeks noticed that some of the ducks are sick and dying," the NGO revealed.

Explaining that the reserve management team had called in relevant authorities, who in turn carried out tests on the birds, the post continues: "We are not aware of the conclusions of these tests and we have been calling on the Animal Welfare Department to take action and end the suffering for these ducks which are also in the wrong habitat, seeing that birds like these need fresh water to survive."

Being in the wrong habitat is not only detrimental to the ducks but also other creatures in the area: "Moreover, this activity is having a negative effect on the biodiversity of the area which is a protected #Natura2000 site," the post continues.

"It is now up to the relevant authorities to take action in this regard, with the only plausible solution being that these ducks are relocated as suggested by the Environment and Resources Authority (ERA) two years ago when the authority ordered that the site be returned to its natural state."

Poor ducks!