When I was a child in the 1930’s,” recalls 86-year-old farmer Marcel Riegel, “hamsters were incredibly easy to catch. There were so many that they ate bare patches into our alfalfa and wheat field.” Now he never sees them. “Before the land consolidations of the 197oS,” Riegel continues, “we had hamsters, hares, partridges, orchards and […]
Tag: buzzards
‘Trophies’ shared on social media reveal scale of mass bird slaughter in Lebanon
Every year, during the Northern Hemisphere spring and autumn, the skies over Lebanon are dotted with millions of birds on their epic migrations. From soaring Egyptian vultures (Neophron percnopterus) to charismatic white storks (Ciconia ciconia), more than 500 species of birds traverse the African-Eurasian flyway, which funnels over Lebanon, as they migrate between their breeding […]