BBC wildlife presenter quizzed by police in Malta after filming bird hunters

BBC wildlife presenter Chris Packham was questioned by police for five hours on Saturday after trying to film hunters killing migratory birds in Malta.

SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO OF CHRIS PACKHAM'S RELEASE

The naturalist has been in the Mediterranean for the past week documenting the plight of migratory birds that are shot in their thousands by hunters when he was called in for questioning after lawyers from hunters' federation FKNK requested an investigation into the alleged privacy breach and defamation.

Speaking to Malta Today after he was released, the 51-year-old Springwatch presenter said he was threatened with arrest but "did everything I could to be cooperative with the police".

He voluntarily attended questioning at the police station.

Chairman of Malta's Green Party Professor Arnold Cassola told Malta Today that Packham had fallen victim to "intolerance and violence".

"Everybody should be allowed to express freely their opinion for or against spring hunting, but threats and intolerant behaviour are simply not on. The quicker one learns this, the better," he said.

According to the Daily Mail, before travelling to the island, Chris said: "I don't care if I get shot. If that's the cost of getting the message across that birds we expect to see in our gardens are dead in some Maltese field because of this senseless slaughter, I'm willing to pay the price."

Around 10,500 hunters gather in Malta every year for its three-week shooting season as migrant birds return to the UK from North Africa.

Chris Packham posted the sixth video from his Massacre on Migration series on YouTube on Saturday.

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