This video shows Lebanese poachers killing thousands of protected eagles, falcons, buzzards, kites & hawks. In the second half the film focuses on joint operations of the Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS – Komitee gegen den Vogelmord e.V.), the Anti Poaching Unit (APU) of MESHC (Middle Eastern Sustainable Hunting Centre) together with the Internal Security Forces of Lebanon to stop and arrest the poachers.
The footage show our activists documenting illegal mass-killings of Lesser Spotted Eagles, Short-toed-Eagles, Black Kites, Levant Sparrowhawks, Honey Buzzards, MontagusĀ“s Harriers, Marsh Harriers Kestrels and Hobbys in the district of Akkar, Northern Lebanon.
Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) is part of a joint operations with Lebanese partners from Middle Eastern Sustainable Hunting Centre (MESHC) and the Society for the Protection of Nature in Lebanon (SPNL) in September and October 2023.
The international bird protection camp in Lebanon started on 19 September 2023 , the next day we have already been able to convict the first two poachers. The men had been shooting protected birds of prey in the mountains east of Beirut – they were caught and confronted by the team with two shot honey buzzards. Before the police arrived, the perpetrators were able to flee in their car. The evidence was provided to the security forces (ISF). The extent of slaughter already observed by our teams is appalling: during our fieldwork in the districts of Beirut and Akkar, we found a total of 28 dead honey buzzards, 2 levant sparrowhawks and a marsh harrier within just a few hours, in addition to numerous shootings and killings of other birds – including hobby, short-toed eagles and lesser spotted eagles.
Millions of birds of prey are currently migrating south across the Mediterranean. On their way to their wintering grounds. Honey buzzards are the most persecuted bird of prey during migration over Lebanon, with an estimated tens of thousands of birds falling victim to poachers every year.Ā The majority are ruthlessly shot from the sky simply for “fun”.
