A 35-year-old hunter was taken into police custody on Thursday after two environmental activists were wounded by shotgun pellets in a hunting area at Cape Greco, with police investigating whether the shooting was deliberate.

The two activists, both 32 and French nationals, were hit at about 7am on Wednesday.

One suffered a cut to the head and the other a superficial wound to the right shoulder, both of which were subsequently treated at Famagusta general hospital and discharged.

A third activist, a British national, was present with them at the scene but sustained no injuries.

The activists were volunteers with the Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS), which said the shooting happened in an area bordering the Cape Greco national park.

Two game wardens were also in the group, which included three CABS volunteers; the wardens had confiscated the electronic caller in the same area shortly before and reported its user.

CABS spokesperson Axel Hirschfeld said the group met a second hunter sitting on a chair as they returned to their cars and greeted him.

He said the man “replied with a gesture and soon after fired the shot”.

CABS said doctors in Paralimni documented injuries to the head and body of one victim and to the arms of the other.

The group said everyone present had passed directly in front of the hunter and made their presence known, and that the sequence of events raised concerns the shooting was deliberate rather than accidental.

It said eyewitnesses, including the two game wardens, could confirm its account, and it called on the authorities to investigate thoroughly.

CABS also warned against further escalation and urged the hunting community to end hostility towards conservationists.

Hirschfeld said reporting hunting offences was a legitimate way to end impunity and should not be seen as provocation.

Police received the report at about 8am, and arrested the hunter, a Greek Cypriot, on Wednesday night.

He has been taken in for questioning and shall remain in custody as the investigation proceeds.

Speaking to the Cyprus Mail, the game and fauna service said it was called to the site after the activists alerted it to a hunter using an illegal bird-calling device. The service arrested that man, and its involvement was solely limited to him.

Police told the Cyprus Mail that as the activists were leaving, after the first hunter had been detained, a second hunter, the 35-year-old currently detained, “shot in their general direction”

The use of electronic bird callers is prohibited in Cyprus. They are used to lure protected migratory species into range of hunters, and the activists were reported to have been in the area monitoring such activity.