On the hunt with falconers in Abu Dhabi
Hundreds of falconers from around the world gathered in the Abu Dhabi desert for the fourth International Festival of Falconry.
An estimated 700 falconers, scientists and researchers from 90 countries met at a camp in Al Ramsah, their base for state-sanctioned hunts at dawn and dusk, and workshops that ranged from raptor nutrition to Arab lure swinging.
The festival is a celebration of all things falcon, but it was not all fun and games. On the sidelines, a series of seminars drafted a global strategy for falconry for the next 40 years.
Electrocution, habitat loss and illegal trade are the most pressing challenges facing falcon conservation, said Adrian Lombard, the president of the International Association for Falconry.
“There are new issues we have to confront,” Mr Lombard said.
“At the moment one of the big problems we see is the electrocution of birds of prey. We’re also worried about the environment and loss of habitat.”
Tens of thousands of birds are electrocuted every year on power lines, particularly in central Asia, where the association estimates that 4,000 saker falcons (Falco cherrug) are killed every year.
The saker falcon is a favourite species used by Gulf falconers and classified as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
This week’s meeting reinforced the importance of ending these preventable deaths, Mr Lombard said.
The illegal trade in wild raptors, which are often worth tens of thousands of dollars each, is another critical issue, he said.
“It’s a multifaceted problem. I think there are issues with corruption and with a lack of adequate policing of areas where the traffic and trading is occurring.
“We believe if it was done openly and managed correctly by the governments where it occurs this problem is something that could be contained and corrected. It’s a problem right across central Asia.”
Falconers must be responsibile when they source their falcons, he said.
“All falconers really would like to have the right to continue practising their art of falconry. They also have the wish that their children would continue as well, so we must be sure that whatever we do is sustainable and something that can be continued into the future.”
On the third day at the desert camp, participants gathered for a communal majlis. The talk indirectly addressed another implied threat to falconry: reputation.
In the Emirates, falconry is taken as a given. At the festival, there was much talk about falconry legislation around the world. While Mr Lombard stressed the assoication’s role in conservation, calling it an “animal welfare organisation”, he was critical of animal rights groups.
“Many organisations call themselves animal welfare organisations and they’re not,” he said. “They’re animal rights organisations. Animal rights and animal welfare are not the same thing. They are very, very different.
“Animal rights people believe that animals have the same rights as people, that keeping a dog is slavery, and they don’t accept that hunting is right; and you can never change that.
“We can persuade people who are not animal rights fans that actually, that’s an unreasonable belief. That actually, what we do is reasonable.”
An Australian falconer noted that falconry should never be called sport. “This can honestly hurt us,” he said. “People’s perception of sport is very different to art and culture.
“Let’s start, here and now, and get rid of the word. It’s not a sport. It’s our culture and our art, and our right.”
Youth were encouraged to step forward and speak about their love of falconry.
“If one day I die, I want to be a raptor and contribute to the balance of the ecosystem,” said a Chinese falconer. “Or become a falcon and help a friend to pass falconry to the next generation.”
Yesterday, the festival moved to Khalifa Park in Abu Dhabi, where the public can see traditional falconry this weekend.
Animal rights and animal welfare are not the same thing. They are very, very different ADRIAN LOMBARD President, International Association for Falconry