Palestinians Trap Invasive Birds Along Gaza Border

Palestinians Trap Invasive Birds Along Gaza Border

In recent years, Palestinians have taken up bird trapping, or more specifically, parakeet trapping. The hunters make money by selling the birds as pets. The business is a rare source of income in Gaza, which has been under an Israeli-Egyptian blockade since the Hamas group took power 15 years ago.

The ring-necked parakeet is an invasive species¹ of tropical bird that has spread in Israel and the Palestinian territories. The bright green birds with red beaks² were most likely first brought to the area as pets.

In Gaza, they are popular as caged songbirds.

Khaled al-Najjar is a trapper and father of two children.

Al-Najjar said of the parakeet, "It's a beautiful bird, and everyone loves it...I catch them to make a living and feed my children."

The birds live on Israeli farms. But when workers come into the fields, the birds fly over the border fence into Gaza. The Palestinian trappers on the other side of the fence catch them in nets and other traps.

The job can be dangerous.

Israel has established a 300-meter area called a buffer³ zone along the fence. Israeli forces closely watch the border for possible Palestinian invaders⁴.

Israel and Hamas have fought four wars and several smaller battles over the years. Earlier this month Gaza was the site of three days of heavy fighting between Israel and forces of the Islamic Jihad group.

Last year, Israeli forces shot and killed a bird-trapper. Palestinian rights groups say Israelis have shot at several other trappers, also.

Once trappers capture the birds, they return to Gaza's crowded cities, where they sell the parakeets to pet stores. Al-Najjar says he gets around $10 for two parakeets. At some pet stores in Gaza, a pair can resell for two times as much.

There are few rules governing the bird trade in Gaza, where unemployment is around 50 percent. Bird trapping has severely⁵ reduced the local population of swallows and quail⁶, as well as native species like goldfinches.

By trapping the parakeets, the hunters might be doing the area a favor. The population of invasive parakeets and mynas — a bird of the starling family — has exploded over the past 15 years.

The growth of invasive species has added to a drop in the populations of local species like the house sparrow and the white-spectacled bulbul.

In 2019, Israeli researchers published a study that examined data on bird populations. They found that 75 percent of the most common species in the country experienced population drop in the fifteen years before. During the same time, the study showed, populations of invasive bird species grew at rates as high as 800 percent.

Abdel Fattah Abd Rabou of the Islamic University of Gaza said the parakeets threaten native birds like hoopoes because they take over their nesting areas. The parakeets can also be a pest to farmers by eating grapes and figs⁷, he said.

For the trappers, and a smaller group of people who catch birds for fun, the activity is a way to pass the time.

The blockade limits movement into and out of Gaza, which is home to more than 2 million Palestinians.

Israel says the closures are needed to contain Hamas.

Palestinians and human rights groups view it as a form of collective punishment.

"There is no work and there is nothing to fill my time other than hunting," al-Najjar said.

"In the morning, my children ask me ‘where are you going?' I tell them to hunt. Pray for me and thank God, who responds to their prayers and provides a living for me."

Words in This Story

blockade – n. a restrictive measure designed to obstruct⁸ the commerce and communications of a nation

caged – adj. kept in a cage - a box made of wire or metal bars in which people keep animals or birds

pest – n. an animal, especially an insect, that causes problems for people especially by damaging crops

1 species   

n.物种，种群

参考例句：

• Are we the only thinking species in the whole of creation?我们是万物中惟一有思想的物种吗？
• This species of bird now exists only in Africa.这种鸟现在只存在于非洲。

2 beaks   

n.鸟嘴( beak的名词复数 )；鹰钩嘴；尖鼻子；掌权者

参考例句：

• Baby cockatoos will have black eyes and soft, almost flexible beaks. 雏鸟凤头鹦鹉黑色的眼睛是柔和的，嘴几乎是灵活的。 来自互联网
• Squid beaks are often found in the stomachs of sperm whales. 经常能在抹香鲸的胃里发现鱿鱼的嘴。 来自互联网

3 buffer   

n.起缓冲作用的人(或物)，缓冲器；vt.缓冲

参考例句：

• A little money can be a useful buffer in time of need.在急需时，很少一点钱就能解燃眉之急。
• Romantic love will buffer you against life's hardships.浪漫的爱会减轻生活的艰辛。

4 invaders   

入侵者，侵略者，侵入物( invader的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They prepared to repel the invaders. 他们准备赶走侵略军。
• The family has traced its ancestry to the Norman invaders. 这个家族将自己的世系追溯到诺曼征服者。

5 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

6 quail   

n.鹌鹑；vi.畏惧，颤抖

参考例句：

• Cowards always quail before the enemy.在敌人面前，胆小鬼们总是畏缩不前的。
• Quail eggs are very high in cholesterol.鹌鹑蛋胆固醇含量高。

7 figs   

figures 数字，图形，外形

参考例句：

• The effect of ring dyeing is shown in Figs 10 and 11. 环形染色的影响如图10和图11所示。
• The results in Figs. 4 and 5 show the excellent agreement between simulation and experiment. 图4和图5的结果都表明模拟和实验是相当吻合的。

8 obstruct   

v.阻隔，阻塞(道路、通道等)；n.阻碍物，障碍物

参考例句：

• He became still more dissatisfied with it and secretly did everything in his power to obstruct it.他对此更不满意，尽在暗里使绊子。
• The fallen trees obstruct the road.倒下的树将路堵住了。