Rare birds face extinction in West Bank

Every predawn, 28-year-old Mohamed Abu Nasim, resident of the northern West Bank city of Nablus, wakes up, preparing his hunting tools and heading to Ein al-Baidda' area in the Jordan Valley for catching Goldfinch birds.

The season for such kind of birds to show up begins in January and ends in June; however, Goldfinch birds in the West Bank are threatened with extinction due to the unfair hunting during this period.

"My father was basically birds' hunter and I inherited this hobby from my father, who used to grow rare birds, including Goldfinch. This hobby turned to become a source of living to help my family," said Abu Nasim, who has been unemployed for several years.

In spite of the risk and the obstacles he faces while hunting birds, Abu Nasim, who spent four years in an Israeli prison, finds himself obliged to do so due to the lack of jobs and the high rates of unemployment in the West Bank. He said he went out from jail, and was unable to complete his education and to get a proper job.

The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics said in its 2014 report that unemployment in the Palestinian territories grew to 27 percent.

While preparing his net and trap, Abu Nasim puts a Goldfinch bird under the net and some little food to attract other birds to come. He said his trip to the area in the Jordan Valley "is full of risks," adding "I might be arrested by the Israeli soldiers, or get shot by the guards of the Israeli settlements."

"The third risk is when the Israeli soldiers and settlers set free wild pigs, they may attack me," said Abu Nasim, who said he knows in advance that he violates the law of the Palestinian Environmental Corporation, but added "the priority is for living and it is more important than protecting nature."

Although Palestinian environmental experts had repeatedly called on Palestinian birds and animals hunters to stop the unfair hunting, Abu Nasim doesn't care about this appeal.

"Sometimes, I pay 300 Shekels (for the transportation) and at the end of the day I come back home without hunts," said Abu Nasim, adding "one male baby Goldfinch is usually sold for 100 shekels, and a grown Goldfinch bird that tweets is usually sold for 600 shekels. Females prices are less than males prices."

Imad al-Atrash, Palestinian official who is in charge of protecting wild life in the West Bank, told Xinhua "This rare kind of bird is specifically wanted no matter if it is a male or a female because it is beautiful and its tweets are nice and attractive."

"Although there are laws and restrictions that prohibit and ban hunting rare kinds of birds and animals in Palestine, there are many hunters who don't respect these laws and regulations and keep carrying out the unfair hunting," said al-Atrash, who rejected the excuse of the need for living.

He went on saying with a voice of anger "Instead of violating the laws and damaging the nature and the environment only for living, why don't they look for another job and find other sources of living!"

Adallah al-Atira, chairman of the Palestinian Environment Authority, told Xinhua that hunting rare birds and animals in the West Bank is taking place illegally, but there are no teams of environment police and observers to stop the unfair hunting.

"Most of the birds and animals hunting is happening in areas classified as area (C) which is under the full control of Israel," she said, adding "the only thing our office can do is to publish the laws and educate our people on the dangers of hunting on birds and animals and on the environment in general."

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