SHARJAH 16 May 2020: The Sharjah Environment and Protected Areas Authority (EPAA), recently confiscated 1,265 devices used for imitating the calls of the stone-curlew (kairawan in Arabic).
An EPAA statement said that the devices had been seized “across several areas in the emirate through the help of several intensive campaigns.”
Stone-curlews are a migratory species that pass through the UAE in small numbers on migration from autumn to spring. The EPAA’s campaigns lasted until the end of April.
According to the Sharjah Executive Council Resolution No. 12 of 2014, it is prohibited to possess, circulate or use such bird-call devices for hunting.
Stone-curlews, like houbara, were traditionally hunted by local falconers. Their conservation status, according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, IUCN, is ‘Least Concern’, but numbers are dropping significantly in some of the breeding areas due to agricultural development.
Hana Saif Al Suwaidi, Chairperson of the EPAA, said, “Teams have been assigned to confiscate these devices which are being used as a means to carry out poaching.”
Overhunting
She said that the EPAA is working to combat overhunting, one way of doing this being by prohibiting the use of such devices and equipment that deceive birds for the purpose of hunting them. One of the strategic objectives of the EPAA, she said, is to protect all migratory birds.
Under the terms of the Sharjah Executive Council resolution, offenders face a fine of AED10,000 and the confiscation and destruction of the equipment being used. Fines are doubled for repeated violations.
9th May, was World Migratory Bird Day, a UN-backed global campaign dedicated to raising awareness of migratory birds and the need for international cooperation to conserve them. This year, the theme of World Migratory Bird Day was “Birds Connect Our World” and was chosen to highlight the importance of conserving and restoring the ecological connectivity and integrity of ecosystems that support the natural cycles that are essential for the survival and well-being of migratory birds.