22.05.2025

In Italy, we caught 12 poachers in a good dozen missions from February to May. In northern Italy, we convicted three animal dealers who were illegally offering wild birds for sale. On the islands of Ponza and Ischia, two people were caught trapping birds by the authorities following our tip-offs. Teams were also deployed on the Strait of Messina in southern Italy to take action against illegal spring hunting. Thanks to our preliminary work, the police were able to confiscate a total of 21 nets, 130 bird traps, 3 decoys and 2 hunting weapons. Around 300 birds were confiscated from illegal holdings and are now waiting to be released into the wild.

Find out more about our bird protection campaigns and operations in Italy here.

26.04.2025

A WWF hunting warden operation funded by the Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) is currently taking place on Ischia. The island just outside the southern Italian harbour city of Naples was once a hotspot for poaching until the mid-2000s. Illegal trapping of whinchats and other late-migratory warblers as well as spring hunting of turtle doves was once particularly widespread here. Thanks to the relentless efforts of CABS and the WWF, bird trapping and bird hunting have now been significantly reduced. Where we used to collect thousands of traps, the birds now pass in peace. The teams currently on the ground have not detected a single case of poaching in the first few days of their inspections!

29.04.2025

This spring, CABS teams carried out several operations in Lebanon together with our partners from MESHC and SPNL. Illegal bird shooting and trapping of protected species in the Cedar State continues to present a huge wildlife conservation crisis for migratory birds. In the north of the country alone, we found over 50 white storks shot within just a few days. In one particularly serious case, a poacher was filmed by us shooting down a Lesser spotted eagle and a detailed casefile of evidence reported to the Environmental Prosecutors office (Watch the video here). We were also able to dismantle a total of 41 mist-nets and 270 limesticks and seize them together with the police. We are planning to deploy several teams in Lebanon this autumn to cover the entire peak migration period.

12.05.2025

From the beginning of March to early May, 3 CABS teams comprised of 25 volunteers were on duty in Malta to take action against illegal bird trapping with clap-nets and the shooting of protected species. As a direct result of our field investigations we were able to catch and convict 25 bird trappers and 6 hunters. The Environmental Police (EPU) confiscated 45 clap-nets, 11 electronic decoys, a mist-net and a cage trap. Our action also lead to the confiscation of over 100 live decoys. In Malta, bird trapping and turtle dove hunting in particular have gotten out of control. The shooting of birds of prey, on the other hand, continues to decline – this spring, none of our teams registered a shooting of large migratory birds. Our action will continue on the Mediterranean island in August.

07.05.2025

UPDATE - The Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) spring bird protection camp has now been running for the past month on the popular holiday island of Zakynthos, Greece. During that time, our teams have faced a brutal assault and documented dozens of cases of illegal shooting of protected migratory birds during closed season, with species such as Golden orioles, Bee-eaters and Turtle dove being particularly affected. So far this spring, 19 poachers have been reported to the authorities and several suspects identified and summoned. However, it’s clear that more support is needed from the mainland to tackle the situation proportionately.

Read today's full Press Release here.

02.05.2025

This morning, our teams caught another hunter shooting protected migratory birds during closed season. The lack of Turtle doves doesn't stop many hunters from targeting golden orioles on the Greek holiday island of Zakynthos. Our teams were attracted to the area of Danato (south of the island) by the significant amount of gun shots and spotted the hunter with the shotgun. When the police arrived with our volunteers, the man had left the area, but also had left behind his loaded shotgun, decoy caller and the five freshly shot birds. Everything was seized and the police have identified and summoned the poacher. Despite illegal hunting being very low in recent days, our teams will continue monitoring the situation until the end of the migration season.

25.04.2025

In the coastal town of Barja and West Bekaa in the centre of the country, hardworking teams from the Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) together with our partners from MESHC Anti-Poaching Unit and SPNL dismantled 40 mist-nets in two operations working in close cooperation with officials from the Lebanese Internal Security Forces. Despite strict bans, bird-trapping widespread in Lebanon. Songbirds are caught and killed to be sold on the black market for around one dollar each. On good migration nights, when hundreds of birds are caught at each site, this is a good source of extra income. In both cases, we were unable to convict the perpetrators.

Find out more about our work against bird trapping in Lebanon here.

21.04.2025

When the first newspaper reports about the unbelievable extent of migratory bird hunting in Italy appeared in the mid-1970s, a small group of bird conservationists in Berlin decided to take action. On 1 March 1975, they founded the Committee Against Bird Slaughter. Today, half a century later, we are a Europe-wide organisation and a leader in the fight against bird-trapping and illegal hunting. From Spain in the west to Lebanon in the east, we now safeguard the migration routes and resting places of our migratory birds. 

Read more about the origins of our organisation and its successes and challenges here.

07.04.2025

A Golden Eagle which was being illegally held in a concrete enclosure in Beirut is back in the wild. After several weeks of treatment, the bird was deemed fit for release by our team vet and set free in the mountains of Shouf Biosphere Reserve Reserve. Staff from the Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS), together with our Lebanese partners from Middle Eastern Sustainable Hunting Centre MESHC Anti-Poaching Unit and the Society for the Protection of Nature in Lebanon, watched in awe and admiration as the magnificent bird spread its wings and started its new life in freedom. 

Watch a short-video of the rescue and release here ...