Writer Who Exposed Songbird Slaughter Applauds Albania’s Hunting Ban. Novelist Jonathan Franzen’s National Geographic story influenced the decision.

Last July, novelist and bird-watcher Jonathan Franzen wrote a devastating account for National Geographic magazine about the mass slaughter of migrating birds across the Mediterranean. The situation, he wrote, was especially dire in Albania, which lies along a major migratory flyway. Due to indiscriminate hunting, the skies above Albania were literally being emptied of birds.

But not anymore. Thanks in part to Franzen’s article, the Albanian government has declared a two-year ban on hunting. “This is really good news,” says Franzen. “If you were to stop hunting in one place in Europe, you would want to stop it in Albania.”

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BY Rachel Hartigan Shea
National Geographic
PUBLISHED FEBRUARY 10, 2014