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Police move in as raptor shootings continue over Lebanon

Evidence gathered at mountain migration routes has led to arrests and gun seizures, as conservation teams document the killing of passing birds.

CABS Anti-Poaching Unit team find the grizzly remains of butchered birds of prey including honey buzzards, sparrowhawks and falcons at a previously known slaughter site in northern Lebanon. (© CABS)

Three men have been arrested and three shotguns seized in Lebanon following evidence gathered by bird-protection teams monitoring the autumn migration, according to the Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS).

In an update published on 25 September, the organisation said its teams and the MECSHAP Anti-Poaching Unit had documented widespread illegal shooting of migratory raptors at mountain passes in central Lebanon.

CABS reports that police detained three men north-west of Beirut following the shooting of a Levant Sparrowhawk and a Honey Buzzard. It also says proceedings were initiated against three other individuals who fled, after footage identified them in connection with the shooting of a Bee-eater and another Honey Buzzard.

These are reported arrests and proceedings, rather than convictions. The organisation’s update does not provide court outcomes or name the individuals involved.

The operations form part of an autumn protection camp launched earlier in September with local partner MECSHAP. Despite the region’s unstable security situation, the teams have continued working with local conservationists and authorities along migration routes.

The campaign covers both the shooting of birds of prey and the trapping of other migrants using nets and glue sticks. Its focus is the African–Eurasian flyway, where birds passing through Lebanon encounter these threats during their seasonal journeys.

CABS says its field teams will remain active until the end of October, monitoring mountain passes used by migrating raptors and songbirds.

30 Sep 2026

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