Osprey With Latvian Ring Found Shot in Buskett, Second Illegally Hit Bird Discovered This Week
Yet another Osprey, known as Arpa in Maltese, has fallen victim to the ongoing illegalities brought on by the local hunting season.
The juvenile bird, which had a Latvian ring, was observed yesterday afternoon in Buskett, Rabat, with visibly dangling legs and colour rings, by representatives from BirdLife Malta.
“The bird, after being shot somewhere in the vicinity, attempted to settle on one of the trees near Buskett. Unable to use its legs, the bird tried hard holding onto a branch until it eventually tumbled down the tree to the ground,” BirdLife Malta said in a statement this morning.
“Environmental Protection Unit (EPU) police officers on site reached the bird with the help of birdwatchers and took the bird immediately to the veterinary clinic,” the environmental NGO continued.
“The diagnosis was clear. Lead pellets had shattered both legs beyond any chance of recovery. The bird is a juvenile one that started its life some months ago in Latvia, on its first journey to Africa for winter.”
“The bird was in fact confirmed to have been ringed in July this year as a nestling in the nest close to the village of Blīdene (Saldus Municipality), Latvia. The information was provided to us following initial contact made by the BirdLife Malta Ringing Scheme with its Latvian counterpart thanks to the details emanating from metal ring ET8905 and colour ring (red with white inscription) EN3 that the bird was fitted with.”
“Its journey has however been cut short as a direct result of the state of impunity that hunting is in,” BirdLife Malta lamented.
This is the second illegally shot Osprey recovered in less than a week following the Osprey recovered by their staff at Għadira Nature Reserve after the bird landed injured on one of the islands within the reserve, succumbing to its injuries on Sunday.
Most of these birds originate from Baltic and Scandinavian countries where intense conservation efforts are expended to help this species thrive.
What do you make of this latest illegal killing?
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