Gozo minister and minister responsible for hunting Clint Camilleri has denied claims by Birdlife that a massacre of protected birds is taking place, while covered in blood and feathers.
The NGO says it is receiving non-stop calls from people coming across dead or wounded birds in the countryside, with 58 hurt birds being handed to the government vet with gunshot injuries since the beginning of the year – 21 more than the whole of last year.
However, Camilleri, who arrived at the press conference caked from head to toe in what appeared to be dried blood and feathers, played down Birdlife’s claims.
“It is categorically untrue that there’s some kind of bird slaughter going on,” said Camilleri, who is a hunter himself.
Noticing the concerned looks of the journalists present, Camilleri apologised for his appearance.
“I hunt in my suit so I can come straight to the office afterwards. Today was a bit of a messy one. This is from only one bird, just to be clear. It was from a mutant quail the size of a large turkey. Promise to Jesus.”
The minister also offered alternative explanations for the massacre claims.
“Those birds were probably suicidal and intentionally flew into the hunters’ sights. And some birds suffer from a disease where lead pellets grow in their bodies until they burst open. It’s very sad and I hope a cure is found soon.
“Either that or Birdlife are up to their usual tricks and killing birds themselves so we get the blame. It’s frankly macabre that they keep hundreds of dead birds in freezers, next to tubs of ġelat tan-nanna. I definitely wouldn’t do that, no sir.”
Camilleri was also asked about an incident that happened yesterday, in which a hunter allegedly entered a private farm in Mġarr and shot at workers, slightly wounding one.
“They were probably dressed as birds. They get up to some weird shit in Mġarr, you know.”
Offering advice to people walking in the countryside on what to do if they came across a hunter, the minister said:
“Leave them alone and don’t disturb them, ewrosfakers.”
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