A video has been posted online showing a hunter illegally shooting a turtle dove at Chadwick Lakes last week.

The video was shot by the Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS), an NGO that monitors the Maltese countryside in a bid to report illegal hunting.

It said the shot bird was one of thousands being targetted across the Maltese archipelago as they travelled to the breeding grounds in continental Europe

“The perpetrator shot the turtle dove with an illegal adapted semi-automatic shotgun. The suspect is one of four poachers we have identified in just the last few days,” CABS said in a Facebook post.

The two other incidents also involved hunters shooting a turtle dove and a kestrel, CABS said, stressing that both were illegal to hunt.

The spring hunting season runs between 10th and 30th April 2021. Only hunting quail is permissible.

“In all cases, the offenders can be identified beyond a reasonable doubt from the footage and vehicles documented by our team,” CABS said.

It added that the evidence had already been handed over to the police and criminal proceedings initiated.

Earlier today, a 44-year-old hunter from Manikata was charged over the shooting of a honey buzzard. The man was caught red-handed by the police after they found the dead bird beneath his car seat and bird feathers in his pocket.

Have you come across any illegal hunting in the Maltese countryside?