In January this year, Abdelmajid Dabbar, President of the NGO Tunisie Ecologie, alleged in a detailed Facebook post that Qatari nationals were illegally hunting protected species in the Tunisian desert using falcons and hunting rifles. Photos and videos posted by other activists showed a convoy of about 30 off-road vehicles, assisted by a helicopter, and the carcasses of Thomson’s gazelles, Saharan hares and Houbara bustards – a type of bird. When confronted by conservationists, the hunters said that they had been granted permission by local authorities.
The case of the Houbara bustard is particularly interesting. The bird is prized for its meat and organs, which are believed to be an aphrodisiac. Hunting the Houbara was traditionally carried out by falconers in Gulf countries, where the Asian variety of this bird used to be prevalent. Hunting in the region became so intensive, however, that by the late 1980s the species was almost extinct.
Saudi and Emirati hunters soon turned their attention to the Tunisian desert. In a telephonic interview with ENACT, Dabbar said that former president Zine el Abidine Ben Ali personally approved hunting expeditions – in exchange for a large sum of money. This led to the species becoming seriously endangered. After Ben Ali’s rule ended in the Arab Spring, Qatari hunters – who were close to the new regime – soon took to the desert. According to Dabbar, the presence of Qatari humanitarian organisations on the Tunisia-Libya border and business projects are enabling these expeditions to take place.
In an interview with public broadcaster France 24 in January, Qatari journalist Ali Al-Hill explained that Qataris have owned large stretches of land in the Tunisian desert since 2008, which has allowed them to hunt there legally. The interview provoked a strong public reaction in Tunisia, but authorities remained silent.
In Tunisia, hunting is strictly regulated. A licence to own a rifle can only be issued by the Ministry of Interior; and falconry is strictly limited to local communities in the northeast, irrespective of whether it is on public or private land.
Protected species, such as the Houbara bustard, cannot be hunted. The bird is classified as a species threatened with extinction in Appendix 1 of CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species), to which Tunisia is a signatory. It also appears on the Red List of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature as a vulnerable species threatened with extinction. This classification follows the sharp decline of the species in North Africa of the last 25 years.
In February, agriculture minister Samir Taieb responded to the January hunting incident in an interview with Express FM Radio. Taieb said that his administration never authorised the hunt. However, he admitted that his ministry does sometimes... ‘receive requests by embassies in Tunis to organise such hunts, but that those pertaining to protected animals are never granted and that in this case, they had not received any request.’ While this might be true, the hunters said that the Presidency of the Republic had given them permission. To date, the Presidency has not responded.
This episode is not an isolated case, either in the country or the region. The goldfinch – an emblematic songbird of North Africa – is also trafficked in the Maghreb along traditional smuggling routes. Ornithologist Ridha El Ouni, who spoke to ENACT in January 2019, explained that ‘at the border with Algeria, a wild goldfinch is worth TND 150 [€40]. At the market in Tunis, a trained goldfinch can be sold for up to TND 1 500 [€400].’ ENACT research on goldfinch trafficking found evidence that Moncef Bey market in Tunis is a hub for this illegal trade, as well as for other protected species.
In August 2018, NGO Association Amis des Oiseaux (AAO) alerted the authorities to the presence of some 100 goldfinches, European greenfinches, pink flamingos and a booted eagle among the market stalls. AAO Executive Director Claudia Feltrup-Azafzaf told ENACT that ‘our monitoring capacity stops at the General Directorate of Forestry [the department of the Ministry of Agriculture that enforces the law], but we do not know what happens beyond that, and if the judiciary has taken legal action or not’.
A lack of data on illegal hunting and the illegal trade is also a problem. In 2015, a report by the NGO BirdLife International found that between 50 500 and 227 000 birds were killed illegally each year. But according to Feltrup-Azafzaf, who also contributed to the report, these figures are largely underestimated. ‘They are based on proven cases reported and extrapolated,’ she explained. ‘We lack financial resources, and there is little awareness among citizens and authorities.’
News agency AFP reported that in 2014, one Saudi prince alone killed about 2 000 bustards in Pakistan in less than 10 days. How many more birds could several dozen highly equipped and organised hunters have killed in Tunisia in January?
In Pakistan, where some Asian bustards still exist and limited hunting takes place in exchange for large sums of money, this activity has become a lucrative illegal business. It is also a source of political conflict between the country and Gulf states.
The January episode highlighted the many challenges facing both the government and non-governmental actors in charge of protecting endangered species in Tunisia.
A national strategy to address wildlife poaching and trafficking in the country could be a first step to confronting the problem. This would allow for gaps in Tunisia’s legislative framework to be identified, along with priority areas for intervention. At the same time, an official awareness-raising campaign should be conducted in collaboration with civil society to let people know that wildlife crime in Tunisia is a serious matter.
Jihane Ben Yahia, ENACT Regional Organised Crime Observatory Coordinator – North Africa
