Birds massacred in Lebanon - Unfettered hunting a disgrace

Birds of all shapes and sizes killed in their thousands - Our thanks to the Lebanon Eco Movement for their help with this article.

November 2012. We have been contacted by someone from Lebanon who wants to highlight the terrible situation there, where birds are shot indiscriminately in there thousands. As Lebanon is at the cross roads between Europe, Asia and Africa, many of the birds are killed while migrating to and from their breeding grounds.

Hunting in Lebanon banned in 1995
The environmental situation in Lebanon is very chaotic. Hunting was banned by a law issued in 1995, and this law is still in force, though almost totally ignored. A new hunting law was agreed in 2004, but has never been implemeneted. There is no enforcement of this law, and some believe that Lebanon should go back to the pre-1995 situation where hunting was legal, but regulated by season and species. There are, as everywhere, repsonsible hunters too, but the irresponsible shooters are giving Lebanon a terrible reputation.

Species that were hunted 

It can be hard to tell, but just from these images it appears that the species below have been targetted. Our thanks to our friends at Bird Watching magazine for help with some of the ID.

White Stork

White Pelican

Common Crane

Griffon Vulture

Hobby

Sparrowhawk

Lesser Spotted Eagle

Steppe Eagle

Almost all birds hunted.
The fashion is that the hunters seem to boast about their kills, and the bigger, the rarer and the larger the number the better as far as they are concerned.

Lebanese Eco Movement
The Lebanese Eco Movement says "All kinds of birds are being hunted, and most of hunters are indifferent to the matter of protected birds. We are witnessing the murder of many protected birds, mainly soaring birds (aquatic birds and raptors), including pelicans, storks, cranes, raptors."

"As for the birds that can be hunted, there is no respect for the numbers and limits. We are witnessing birds being killed in thousands. A single hunter may kill more than one thousand birds. Hunters are of all ages; they may be as young as 10, even though Lebanese law prohibits holding weapons for ages less than 18."

Continued:  http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/lebanon-bird-hunt.html