700 turtle doves released into the wild by hunters' federation

Over 700 turtle doves bred in captivity were released into the wild from the shooting ranges in "ebbu" by the Federation for Hunting and Conservation - Malta (FKNK).
This was the second year of this FKNK project, which began in May last year when 400 turtle doves were released from Buskett.

The aim of this project was to accelerate a traditional turtle dove spring hunting season by restocking the wild population, which was the only tangible contribution that Malta could make towards the conservation of this species in the wild, the federation explained.
The released amount can serve as a compensation measure for turtle doves that may be taken from the wild in the Maltese islands.
Since the turtle doves were bred in captivity, they were all appropriately marked with rings.The captive breeding was undertaken by several members of the FKNK from around Malta and Gozo over the past year, in a carefully monitored process to ensure that?the project complies with the guidelines of the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) for similar projects.

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