Over the last week there have been numerous media reports about hyenas being deliberately killed.
The stories are all the same - the hyena is a ferocious animal, someone is proud that they shot and killed the hyena, and finish with a few bits of information about hyenas that are not the most accurate.
While we should encourage more media about animals, these stories about hyenas may do far more harm than good.
The articles don't state that it is illegal to kill hyenas. They don't discuss that the species is threatened in Lebanon. They don't mention that the population is decreasing. They don't highlight that all animals have a role to play in nature and that exterminating a species has negative consequences. They don't explain the evident harm that hunting can have.
Instead, these articles glorify this and portray as heroes the people who are illegally slaughtering a threatened species.
By giving these hunters a forum, posting and sharing gruesome photos, and portraying them as heroes or saviors, are these articles encouraging people or giving them incentive to kill even more hyenas?
Lets rewrite one of the articles -
The striped hyena, found and in north and east Africa, Asia minor and the Middle East, now numbers at an estimated 10,000 individuals in the wild as ongoing persecutions threatens them. Native to Lebanon, as their habitat disappears and food sources are more difficult to find, illegal hunting further endangered this shy and often solitary animal.
Despite regulations on hunting and that the hyena has been called the national animal of Lebanon they are routinely slaughtered. Hunters post gruesome photos of social media, bragging of their kills, but little is done by the relevant authorities to stop this.
Over the last hundred years a number of animals have went extinct in Lebanon. We all need to do more to protect this species, penalize the hunters who are actively advertising the killings, and work to increase our understanding and acceptance of hyenas before it is too late.
