27 Feb 2018
With the spring migration just a
few weeks away, conservation groups the world over have come together in
support of an open letter to the President of Lebanon. Croatian
conservationists call for the President to honour his promise for stricter
enforcement of hunting laws.
By Jessica Law
Last May, bird lovers were
entranced by the story of Klepetan, a lovestruck White Stork Ciconia ciconia who,
for the past fifteen years, has returned from his South Africa wintering
grounds to the same rooftop in Croatia to be reunited with his disabled mate,
Malena. But it won’t be long until Klepetan has to take that journey again –
and it’s a journey rife with peril. Quite apart from the usual dangers of
migration – bad weather, food shortages and natural predators – he and millions
of other birds that use the African-Eurasian Flyway must pass over Lebanon, a
country where 2.6 million birds are illegally trapped or shot down
each year.
Among the casualties in 2017 was
another White Stork, Tesla – one of two that had been equipped with a GPS
tracking system in Croatia. Being able to know exactly what had happened
to Tesla, and where, made it all the more painful – but proved a rallying cry
for conservationists.
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