Photo: FACE

Malta has approved the opening of a spring hunting season but hunters aged 65 and older and other hunters deemed vulnerable to COVID-19 won’t be allowed to hunt.

“Following widespread consultation with the health authorities, the government has accepted the Ornis Committee’s recommendations to open a spring hunting season for quail,” the government said in a statement.

The season will open on 10th April and close on 30th April, with the hunting hours set from two hours before sunrise till noon, including on weekends and public holidays.

The national quota has been set at 5,000 quails, which hunters must report, and no individual quotas have been set.

“Quail hunting is a solitary activity which means hunters can practice it by themselves in a field, but as per the directives of the health authorities, elderly and vulnerable people cannot go out hunting. In fact, their hunting licenses have been suspended.”

“The same prohibitions apply to people under quarantine or who have been ordered to remain in isolation.”