Goldfinch birds may become extinct in West Bank because of illegal hunting. (Photo : www.birds.audobon.org)
The seasonal Goldfinch birds are faced with possible extinction during their visit to the West Bank in the first half of the year because of unfair hunting.
Hunters usually head to the Ein al-Baidda area in the Jordan Valley to take advantage of the Goldfinch season which usually begins in January and ends in June.
During this period, Goldfinch birds, a species of aviary from the genus Carduelis, fly to the West Bank for the cold season.
Already considered endangered species in Jordan Valley, these birds are readily hunted during this same time by residents of nearby villages, including 28-year-old Mohamed Abu Nasim.
Nasim, a resident of Nablus in West Bank, wakes up early before dawn to prepare his hunting tools and proceed with his inherited hobby-bird hunting.
"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," he told the Xinhua News Agency.
Nasim had been unemployed for several years already and relies on the fruits of hunting birds to feed himself and his family despite the risks it posed.
According to him, there is a possibility that he might be arrested by Israeli soldiers, attacked by wild pigs they set free or even get shot by guards in nearby Israeli settlements.
However, he still pursues this line of work even if it is against the law of the Palestinian Environmental Corporation since "the priority is for living and it is more important than protecting nature."
"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 Imad al-Atrash, a Palestinian official in charge with preserving the wild life in West Bank.
Al-Atrash had dismissed their excuse for the need for living as he believes that people are attracted to do such acts more on the thrill of finding the rarest of birds in the area.
