A beautiful and protected grey heron was shot down this morning and landed in the football grounds of De La Salle College, Marsaskala, 

The gruesome discovery was flagged by Marsaskala resident Konrad Bajada, who said he had found the bird close to his house this morning and that it had blood pouring out of a gunshot wound under one of its wings. The heron did not die instantly as it was shot, but eventually succumbed to its injuries. 

BirdLife Malta was contacted and, in a Facebook post, said the dead bird would be taken to the vet so as to establish its cause of death. 

If it is confirmed shot, it would be the third victim of this year’s autumn hunting season, which was only opened last weekend. Two protected bee eaters were also found shot this week, in two separate incidents in Ghaxaq and Dwejra. 

Should the authorities do more to clamp down on illegal hunting? Let us know in the comments section

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Tim Diacono

Tim is interested in the rapid evolution of human society and is passionate about justice, human rights and cutting-edge political debates. You can follow him on Instagram or Twitter/X at @timdiacono or reach out to him at [email protected]