Yesterday I meet an American friend here in Arizona. He was wondering about those bird-related posts I was sharing from Lebanon. He wasn't even sure what he was looking at in those photos. Then it dawned on me that the bird massacres there (and elsewhere) are so outrageous as to be simply incomprehensible to many people here. Americans used to strict hunting regulations simply can't imagine that this stuff can even take place elsewhere. (For the record, my friend is not a hunter but is familiar with the fact that hunting is strictly regulated here.)
So, a somewhat-brief explanation to my friends in the US is in order. Although there are real hunters in Lebanon who hunt legitimate game birds in season and legal numbers, there are also the "shooters". To call them poachers would be too gentle. Rather; they are wanton vandals, barbarians, who see some sort of inexplicable, insane, perhaps even orgasmic, pleasure in killing hundreds, even thousands, of birds regardless of species, endangered status, or time of the year. You name it; it gets shot. Songbirds of all types. Golden eagles. Pelicans. Storks. Egrets. Hawks. Falcons. Even owls. They then line up the victims, Daesh- (ISIS- or ISIL-) style, on car hoods or drape them on their bodies and pose for photos that end up on social media. The criminals often show off their muscles in these photos - as if raw athletic ability is required to perpetrate these massacres. Few of these birds are actually eaten (always a part of hunting ethics - waste is unacceptable). A few might get mounted; the rest are simply thrown away.
In the past, so-called hunting in Lebanon was virtually a requirement for manhood. Fathers taught their young kids to shoot songbirds with a BB gun. The caliber of the gun increased with the child's age. Manhood was measured by the larger size and numbers of birds killed. Regulations? What regulations?
With the relative lawlessness of post-2005 Lebanon, an unwilling government, and the explosion of social media, the bird massacres have worsened in recent years.
These "people" are completely ignorant of the ethics of real hunting, ignorant of the benefits of many birds in controlling insects and vermin, and are heartless of the misery they may be leaving behind when they shoot mother birds during breeding season.
But there's hope. The Lebanese government recently busted several vandals who had posted their exploits on social media; without the opportunity to post their "feats" online, there may be less of an incentive to kill so many birds in the first place. The Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) is becoming active in Lebanon, monitoring and reporting lawbreakers. BirdLife International and their partner, The Society for the Protection of Nature in Lebanon (SPNL), are coming up with educational programs, recruiting legitimate hunters and working with local governments to create "himas"; traditional community preserves where shared resources are protected and illegitimate bird shooting banned and locally enforced.
