57 falcons released in the wild

Fifty-seven falcons were released into the skies above the Altai Mountain range in Kazakhstan earlier this month. The attempt was part of an annual effort by the Sheikh Zayed Falcon Release Programme to help maintain the population of falcons in the wild.

This year's programme was organised under the aegis of the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD), with medical support from the Abu Dhabi Falcon Hospital. The birds released were once-wild falcons that were captured and rescued. Among the birds released this year were 20 peregrines, 32 sakers and five gyrs. About 10 of these were fitted with a satellite tracking device to monitor their movements. The programme was started in 1995 by the then President of the UAE, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who had realised the deteriorating situation of falcons

in the wild, and used to release his own falcons into the wild at the end of the hunting season.

"Falconry has been practiced for hundreds of years in the Arab World," said Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Ruler's Representative in the Western Region and Chairman of EAD. "In the past, Bedouins used to trap falcons on their migration routes over the Arab peninsula during autumn. These falcons were used in hunting. At the end of the hunting season, the falcons were released and they returned to their breeding places."

Among the birds released this year, 30 birds belonging to Sheikh?Hamdan, while the rest were confiscated by concerned authorities while being trafficked at borders.

Sheikh?Hamdan said: "As the life of the Bedouins has changed dramatically over a period of time, falconers began keeping the birds over the summer time to use them for the coming year. This resulted in a dramatic decrease of the bird in the wild."

The programme uses the latest techniques to study migration patterns of falcons such as satellite tracking. Since it began, 1,246 falcons have been successfully released back into the wild.

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