This is a guest post by Abdallah Alaili, a good childhood friend of mine who currently lives in Europe.
Before starting this delicate subject , let me introduce myself, my name is Abdallah Alaili, I’m an Lebanese expat and entrepreneur, I have no interest in politics, have been living abroad for the last 10 years, and knowing that talking about such a subject is very delicate, I would like to emphasize there’s no hidden intention here.
Like any expat, I listen closely to what is said about my country, and the other day the name of Lebanon popped up on the screen for a subject that is not the standard Lebanese related news. Scientists were complaining that stork birds were being shot in Lebanon before returning from the migration journey, and that’s why their numbers are decreasing rapidly.
The Birds we are talking about, are those birds that you often see in cartoons bringing babies to parents:
Europe having an average fertility rate of 1.59 children per woman, makes these birds symbolic and well loved, because they symbolize fertility, and it is considered a huge honor when they nest near your house.
These birds Migrate from Europe to Africa during winter, and most of them do that by flying above Lebanon, as seen on the map below:
The scientists were trying to figure out, why these birds were being shot in Lebanon, and most importantly how (taken in consideration that they fly above the reach of a standard hunting gun).
Little did they know, that unlike civilized countries, in Lebanon anyone can go hunting without a license, in Lebanon hunting season is all year long and is not restricted on few species, and in Lebanon when birds fly too high for the standard hunting gun, hunters shoot them with the war grade guns (AK 47, etc …)! And yeah I forgot the most important, in Lebanon hunting is not a sport it’s just for the fun of killing poor birds!
This being said, I think it’s our responsibility as Lebanese Youth to educate, to push for strict hunting laws, and most importantly to forbid the use of war grade weapons (or at least in hunting)!
A last thought, I would like to address a message to these delicate human beings hunting the stork birds with AK47: What would you do if we had elephants or rhinoceros passing by Lebanon? Would you follow them with a B7?
You can connect with Abdallah through: Twitter, G+ , and follow his blog.
