CABS | The northern lights of Lebanon.

Описание: The northern lights of Lebanon: This autumn, CABS teams together with our Lebanese partners from the Society for the Protection of Nature in Lebanon (SPNL), MESHC Anti-Poaching Unit and officers from the Lebanese Internal Security Forces (ISF) conducted a series of anti-poaching patrols to disrupt and prevent illegal night shooting in and around the notorious and dangerous ‘hotspot’ of Danniyeh in the northern Governorate. Here, especially during peak migration, large gangs of poachers gather every night on the high mountain ridges, using extremely loud electro-acoustic decoy callers to lure whole manner of nocturnal migrant birds such as nightjars, owls and corncrakes which funnel in overhead. Literally ‘any’ bird unfortunate enough to get pulled into this blackhole is dazzled and blinded with bright spot lamps and lasers before being blasted with shotguns and semi-automatic weapons for ‘sport’. This nightmarish and dystopian landscape is littered with gun cartridges, trash and corpses of wild animals; the air is filled with the putrid stench of decay and burning plastic. During the operations we gathered evidence on more than 50 poachers who were cautioned, and a number of decoy callers were seized. All information was subsequently passed on the district judge and intelligence division and we were assured that repeat offenders will face prosecution. As a result of subsequent operations a total of 17 prosecutions have been made so far.