Bird hunting in Lebanon - Page 3 - The Orange Room

Dry Ice

Friday, February 6, 1998

HUNTING IN LEBANON-PART 1

by Fareed Abou-Haidar

(Note: the word 'hunter' is used very loosely here and is not meant to denigrate law-abiding hunters in most other countries where they follow strict rules and limits, and whose activities often include the conservation of wildlife habitat. It is simply being used as a literal translation of the word used in Lebanon, 'sayyad,' and in reality refers to poachers who kill wildlife in an indiscriminate manner.)

For decades, a huge number of Lebanese have had the urge to kill anything that moved, and especially anything that flew. Despite hunting laws that were on paper, most Lebanese hunters felt free to go hunting whenever they wanted, and to shoot as much as they could of anything.

Hunting became a virtual part of Lebanese culture, almost as much as drinking Arabic coffee and playing backgammon. As a result, large mammals were decimated decades ago, beyond the lifetime of most Lebanese alive today. Even an animal such as the squirrel, common in most western cities, became very scarce in Lebanon. With the mammals gone, hunters pointed their guns skyward.

A child might start with a slingshot. Soon after, he might receive a little pellet gun to shoot little song birds with. In my school, some classmates boasted on Monday about how many birds they had killed during the weekend, the way sports fans in other countries talk about the Sunday football game. The gun caliber grew in tandem with the boy's height (and testosterone levels). Manhood came with the heavy-guage, double-barreled shotgun (and even a Kalachnikov sometimes). In college, one classmate of mine once came back from a trip with a plastic-bagful of dead birds.

No area was off limits. People hunted everywhere. 'Everywhere' included not just remote open areas but village streets and even backyards, where large- caliber guns were used to shoot migrating birds in the midst of residential areas, raining gunshot and dead birds on nearby properties. Hunters cut up fences and hunted inside protected private property where they were unwelcome because the birds outside had already been decimated.

On an early Sunday morning in the mountains, one woke up to the sound of continuous gunfire that was more like another battle of the Lebanese war. Thousands of birds fell out of the sky. Particularly hard hit was the Bequa'a Valley at the end of October, which hunters mobbed by the thousands, producing a deafening racket throughout the day, after which they clogged up the Damascus Highway with their cars loaded with thousands of dead birds of all kinds. Even Beirut was not exempt. I've seen children shoot songbirds in trees among residential buildings. I've even heard the story of a man who got out of his car, stopping traffic, so he could shoot a bird with a machine gun in the heart of the Hamra district! Only rainy weather timed right could save the birds. In the woods, empty shotgun cartridges on the ground were as common as wildflowers elsewhere. Trees suffered damage to new growth from shotgun pellets. And, the woods were silent.

Some of the birds were eaten (a key component of ethical hunting in other countries). But most simply went to waste because they were of inedible species or too many in number. They simply made for good photographs with their murderer, whether it was one big stork or eagle, its wings spread by the proud hunter, or dozens of little birds cascading down a chest or weighing down a belt. Many were sold on roadsides to motorists, and to restaurants. (Hunting for profit is another no-no in other countries, including the U.S.) 'Asafeer mishwiyyeh' or 'miqliyyeh' (skewered or fried songbirds) were a staple of most Lebanese restaurants. There is the story of the foreign lady who dumped her Lebanese boyfriend after he ordered 'asafeer' at a restaurant.

Dry Ice

HUNTING IN LEBANON-PART 2

by Fareed Abou-Haidar

The destructive effect of Lebanon's hunters was felt far beyond the country's boundaries. Unfortunately (!), Lebanon lies in a very strategic position along a major flyway for birds migrating between Europe and northern Asia, and Africa. Because of the open expanses of the Mediterranean sea, birds flying south from Europe veer east and follow land so that they can rest on the way, taking them over the eastern Mediterranean countries, including Lebanon. In the early or mid-1970s, in letters sent to Lebanese newspapers, the Germans complained that the very same storks that were welcomed in their barns and on their chimneys and rooftops were being decimated by hunters during the birds' journey between Europe and Africa, where they spent the winters.

Lebanon's hunters had the dishonor of being featured in the magazine of the National Audubon Society in January 1986. Some eye-popping tidbits from that article: One man (no doubt with abnormally high levels of testosterone, a good aim, and money to waste) has shot over 50,000 raptors (birds of prey). Twelve- year-olds shoot songbird with machine guns. Fifteen to 20 million migratory birds are shot down annually. That's 'only' forty birds per year by each of half a million hunters. (Many hunters kill that many birds in a DAY.) The article explains the unraveling of the ecology resulting from the elimination of birds: an increase in harmful insects destroying the cedars of Lebanon and defoliating other forests; erosion from slopes denuded of their trees; a resulting loss of perennial streams; a loss of agriculture; a marine ecosystem smothered by eroded soil and the need to import fish from Syria and Turkey to meet the country's needs. The Friends of Nature's efforts to stop hunting and educate people are prominently featured.

That was then, the bad old days of ineffective prewar and wartime governments, many of whose members themselves hunted large numbers of birds in well-publicized events; the bad days of the Lebanese war when hunters took the deaths of people as a reason to justify killing birds and other animals.

This is now. For over three years, hunting has been totally banned in Lebanon. The ban came after a prolonged struggle between the government on one side, and the hunters, gun shops (especially in Shtoura), and gunshot manufacturers on the other side. It finally took effect in January 1995. By August 1995, when I visited Lebanon, the difference was already noticeable in both the peaceful countryside and the chattering of large numbers of birds. Despite violations, the ban has been effective, and was recently extended another year, till the end of 1998.

Lebanon is too small to accommodate the vast number of Lebanese hunters. Let's hope that after four years, many people will have given up hunting (just like giving up that other common Lebanese vice, cigarette smoking) and that an emerging generation will have learned to grow up without hunting. Educational campaigns will no doubt further reduce the number of hunters, both existing and potential.

After the ban is lifted, hunting will be strictly regulated. I believe it should remain banned in practically all of the western slope of Mount Lebanon because of the high population density. The remaining open spaces of Lebanon are too valuable a resource that can be better put to use for hiking and other outdoor recreation, and would make excellent nature and wildlife preserves. This is the case of the new 500-square-kilometer preserve in the Shouf, where hunting will remain forbidden even after the ban is lifted elsewhere. Wildlife has already made a comeback, as mentioned in a recent LebEnv article.

Where hunting is allowed, it should follow the model of the U.S. or some other countries. In the U.S., hunters are often allied with environmentalists in battles over habitat destruction. They gladly pay taxes on guns, ammunition and other equipment. The money is used to protect wildlife habitat from development, and helps in monitoring wildlife to make sure it is not over- hunted. In the crowded eastern U.S., some states actually have public hunting areas set aside. In Lebanon's case, the money can be used to raise certain game birds (doves, pheasants, quail etc.) that can be continually released into the countryside and hunted without depleting their numbers; this was already being done before the war. Other birds, such as storks, eagles and songbirds would remain off-limits.

Ecotourism is a new kind of industry that has been on the rise in recent decades. Whereas traditional tourism relies on well-publicized historic sites and 'trademark' views, ecotourism involves immersing oneself in the natural features of the country being visited. People pay thousands of dollars to visit the jungles of Costa Rica. Many people 'collect' birds by identifying them and putting them on their 'life list.' No doubt Lebanon has a large number of species of birds that would be hard to find elsewhere in such a small area. This makes the country a potential destination for a new kind of tourist. Bird watchers tend to be educated and with high incomes; besides watching birds and hiking in the mountains, they will be interested in learning about the culture of the country. By being the target of a camera of pair of binoculars, a single bird will 'benefit' the economy several times over in comparison to shooting it with a gun. A new form of recycling!

Red Phoenix

11:31
قوة من الجيش لاحقت صيادين في بعلبك

tayyar.org

joe tayyar

Quote:

Originally Posted by Red Phoenix

11:31
قوة من الجيش لاحقت صيادين في بعلبك

tayyar.org

They want the birds not the hunters

Anyway, good move by the army.

Orange angel

Quote:

Originally Posted by Red Phoenix

11:31
قوة من الجيش لاحقت صيادين في بعلبك

tayyar.org

ولك انشالله بأشطون كل بواريدون وبكبون بالبحر!!!!

Don_Corlerony

I remember back in 1998 (i guess) whe Akram chhayyeb became "wazir el bi2a" and he was asked about preventing hunting, and how could police help in this matter and he said that police are hunting with their guns....

This is a corrupted country, there's no hunter that has not protected his back and insured no one will get in his way before going for hunting.. even if he was arrested by a patrol, he will make one phone call, give the mobile to the policeman .. he will be insulted by the man on the phone and the hunter will continue his journey and will tell how he got out of it the same night on dinner

Orange angel

Quote:

Originally Posted by Don_Corlerony

I remember back in 1998 (i guess) whe Akram chhayyeb became "wazir el bi2a" and he was asked about preventing hunting, and how could police help in this matter and he said that police are hunting with their guns....

This is a corrupted country, there's no hunter that has not protected his back and insured no one will get in his way before going for hunting.. even if he was arrested by a patrol, he will make one phone call, give the mobile to the policeman .. he will be insulted by the man on the phone and the hunter will continue his journey and will tell how he got out of it the same night on dinner

So what? we're supposed to bow to this reality?? I say we do everything in our power to limit hunting, not stop it completely of course. The state should organized it, with specifications about the species and quantities one can hunt in a given season... مش حلو تكون الدنيي سايبي هاك!!!

As for us, as a civil society, we can do campaigns, protests, human walls, whatever, anything we can to stop this massacre!