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The Guardian: Is social media driving the killing of 2.6 million birds in Lebanon?

Politiko 2024-07-23 10:33:38

The Guardian: Is social media driving the killing of 2.6 million birds in

Hunting of migratory birds is illegal in Lebanon, but this law is not being enforced and many birds are being shot 'just for fun'.

One of the most migratory bird routes in the world is littered with shrews. The peak of Mount Tarbol in northern Lebanon, buffeted by strong winds, creates a corridor that allows weary birds migrating from Africa and Eurasia to fly at low altitudes. This flight, according to studies, is undertaken by about 2 billion birds.

These birds are easy targets for hunters, says director of the Lebanese Association of Migratory Birds, Sawun. "They say, 'We inherited this culture from our grandparents,' and I keep saying, 'Your grandparents were wrong,'" he says.

Lebanese law prohibits hunting migratory birds, but a weak government in Beirut, a financial crisis and a war along the southern border with Israel mean few resources are devoted to enforcing hunting laws, which often require security personnel to arrest members of their community.

Of the thousands of birds killed in the region, most are not collected or eaten by hunters, but simply left in the valley — shot "just for fun," says Sawan. Birds often die a slow and painful death on the ground as the larvae eat their flesh alive.

Over the past decade, the age-old practice of hunting migratory birds has also gained momentum from social media and more sophisticated weapons. Many poachers post videos of their kills online, and there are concerns that social media is fueling the killing. On TikTok, hunters share videos of storks being shot out of the sky, sometimes using military-style weapons. “They slaughter birds for 'likes'. "If they had nowhere to post these videos, they wouldn't be hunting these birds," says Sawan.

Sawan was once a hunter, but witnessing a mass killing of storks turned him into a wildlife activist.

 Every year, he says, one person dies hunting. A teenager on a motorcycle was accidentally shot during a hunt earlier this year, says Sawan, one of whose childhood friends died during a hunt. The activist says he was shot seven times by poachers while trying to protect the birds.

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