Annihilation Professionals.. Endangered animals and birds facing guns
By: salah laban
Salem (pseudonym) decided to isolate some endangered deer from their natural environment, which he had managed to hunt illegally, by rearing them in a barn among his goats, and he also raised various sorts of migratory birds with Egyptian breeds.
What Salem is doing is a breach of Article (28) of the Egyptian Environmental Law, which prohibits hunting, killing, or possessing birds and wild animals.
Dr. Mohamed Ragai, the head of the Central Administration of Egyptian Zoos, can’t imagine that strange scene and confirmed to Al-Ghad TV website that he had never heard of this matter before, and such incidents in violation of international agreements had not been seized, emphasizing that such species cannot be raised on unlicensed farms.
According to the International Convention on CITES, to which Egypt has signed, it is illegal to possess endangered wild animals, and it is also illegal to hunt or trade them, with exception of special non-commercial objectives such as scientific research.
The investigation uses audio and video to document the continuing poaching of endangered birds and wild animals, as well as the fact that some hunters breed these rare species within their houses for bragging purposes because of the lack of supervision over such unlawful practices.
The investigation began in a rural village in the Sharkia Governorate, south of Cairo, where the investigator could persuade the fisherman “Salem,” who calls himself “the sniper,” to schedule an appointment to meet him at his home.
Surprises began to appear as soon as he arrived at the house of the young guy in his forties, as we documented his mummification of many sorts of rare and endangered animals that filled the house because he sees this as documentation of significant memories from his hunting trips.
“You seldom find an Egyptian fisherman who has managed to hunt a single gazelle in the last five years, but I do it virtually every month”, a phrase wrapped in a defiant tone that the fisherman makes during his conversation with the investigator
Salem explains that he was catching old deer and raising them in his house among goats and sheep, but they died in the end, so he decided to catch the young deer, believing that by doing so, he would be able to make them adapt to the new environment he created for those breeds that do not accept isolation.
The fisherman continues talking about his fondness for hunting and says that he bought a car and a cartridge rifle worth one million Egyptian pounds and that the trip costs him a lot, but he loves to hunt rare species, whether they belong to birds or animals, indicating that he inherited that hobby from his father.
He claims that he acquired his weapon license 8 years ago, but he just mastered deer hunting for 4 years and that he now has a complete understanding of how to hunt, mating dates, and whereabouts.
“The most difficult bird I hunted was the rookery.” I was only able to complete this challenge twice. “I travelled to Aswan just to hunt it,” the man explains, adding, “It is the largest type of bird I have ever seen.” I saw a lot of it, but they were flying at such a far distance that we couldn’t hunt them.” And in the evenings, we would crawl on the ground to hunt.”
“Sometimes I wear garments that seem like plants, and stand still for lengthy periods of time until I deceive these species, and I can hunt them,” Salem continues to demonstrate his skills in hunting endangered species,
“We skin the deer and rare animals in a special way to embalm them, where I leave the legs, the head, and the skin, and I pay from 500 to 1500 pounds per animal – and I guess I paid over 100,000 pounds to see myself distinguished from other hunters,” he continued.
“I feel enormous delight and joy when I find an animal or a bird accustomed to freedom prisoner in my hands; these rare species can only be obtained by a hunter who has a great deal of competence.” The man continues to explain his banned hobby, stating that a skilled hunter must possess personal characteristics such as stability, expertise, attention, and speed in directing shots towards the target.
Salem confesses that the majority of the deer of old ages he keeps die because they are accustomed to freedom and that he is now experimenting with raising young deer with goats and sheep, believing that he will succeed!!
The man points out that he faced a problem regarding the breeding of migratory birds, which was that they do not lay eggs or mate on his farm, and that he tried that for 3 years, without achieving his desire, and that they only lay eggs in their original nature, pointing out that all these birds died at the end because he did not provide them with the necessary care because of his busy life.
Salem is also skilled in hunting falcons and eagles. He says that he loves hunting of all kinds, and that he sees it as an “addiction,” that he cannot give up.
Dr. Alaa El-Din Sultan, a wildlife protection expert at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Germany, said in exclusive statements to the Al-Ghad channel that raising endangered animals and birds such as deer and wild ducks in pens in this way destroys wildlife in Egypt, because thus, it changes the environment of the animal or bird, and makes it dependent on grain to a large extent.
He went on to say that if these species interbreed, the genes will be destroyed, making them feeble and unable of resisting diseases, and they will be unable to be released into the wild since they will have lost their genome
Sultan’s Ph.D. study was raising concerns that some endemic animal species will become extinct in the Arab and African regions.
Sultan concentrated his research on endemic species, which are exclusively present in the deserts of North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, to evaluate the impact of climate change on them, concluding that roughly 80% of endemic animals will not find a place to survive and become extinct.
According to the researcher at the Swedish University of SLU, Arab deer and tigers are among the animals threatened with extinction, and that research centers in some Arab countries, such as Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, and the Sultanate of Oman, have contacted him to use the model he presented to carry out a multiplication process for the Arab tiger in order to adapt to climatic conditions.
For his part, the Jordanian environmental activist, Malek Al-Awaji, in exclusive statements to Al-Ghad channel website, refers to an incident that occurred in Jordan for a person who was keeping endangered animals, but the security raided his house, and those animals were confiscated.
Al-Awaji stated that Jordan’s laws are robust to preserve these species, and punishments range from fines to incarceration and isolation from the region, emphasizing that the difficulty comes in the mechanism for enforcing that rule.
My next destination in this world of mysteries and secrets was at the home of Sheikh Amer “a pseudonym,” a man in his sixties from one of the known tribes, who greeted me holding a large volume containing poems about falcons and photographs for him accompanying some significant people.
He claims that because the falcon travels such a long distance, only rare birds arrive in Egypt so it is sold at great prices, saying that among the notable kinds are the white falcons, the black and red peregrine falcon.
The man delves into the details and points out that the most essential factor that determines the price of the falcon is the size of its wing. If the wing of the peregrine falcon exceeds 16 cm, we can demand any price.
“However, if one of its wing or tail feathers is broken, it loses its price, so only a trained falconer can handle with it,” he continued.
He continues, saying: “The renowned falcon’s wingspan can range between 17.5 and 18 cm. For example, any price is given for the white falcon since everyone begs for it and wants to own it, and money isn’t a matter of worry with him.”
For her part, Nouran Tawfik, the contact person with the Egyptian Society for the Conservation of Nature, indicated that they are launching several projects to prevent illegal fishing.
According to her statements on the Al-Ghad channel website, they teach some fishermen for the aim of participating with the organization, and they utilize any and all techniques to entice them to work with them.
She stated that the association has highly competent scientists and collaborates with one of the international bodies that focus on bird migration around the world, stressing that they give essential studies to safeguard these bird species and that Egyptian officials contact with them.
According to Fouda’s claims on the Al-Ghad channel website, migratory deer and birds cannot live in this confinement, which is strictly prohibited by international conventions and local legislation. He stressed the need to punish these people, given that their activities are illegal.
We went to the Director of the Central Department of Biodiversity, Dr. Ayman Hamada, who met us in his office at the Egyptian Ministry of Environment’s headquarters in Maadi and showed him the photographs and video we had. He responded by saying that this is inappropriate behavior, unsustainable human practices, and illegal trade. He pointed out that most of the possession is for the purpose of trade, and that wildlife trade is often illegal.
He went on to say that these acts are illegal under Egyptian legislation and the constitution, as well as under international accords Egypt has signed, and that engaging in these practices exposes the owner to prosecution.
He stated that mummification of these creatures is a crime because whoever conducts it is killing a living animal for the sake of mummification, and possession is basically prohibited.
