Patrols launched to clip wings of bird poachers

NICOSIA, Cyprus - Volunteers looking for poachers that target migrating birds are on patrol in several Mediterranean countries, including Malta, Lebanon and Cyprus.

The Berlin-based Committee against Bird Slaughter, known as CABS, has launched its autumn anti-poaching operations, which take them through mostly rural areas, looking for nets, decoys and other hunting devices.

The environmentalists say their work is tough and their members have been assaulted on dozens of occasions by angry poachers.