ADIHEX contributed to promoting captive-bred falcons
The UAE’s leading
role in falcon breeding research.
ADIHEX contributed to promoting captive-bred falcons.
ADIHEX promotes falcon
husbandry around the world and provides a great opportunity to meet the growing
needs of falconers to participate in falconry competitions.
Abu Dhabi, April 03rd, 2021:
The breeding of falcons in captivity had a
big impact on the sport of falconry and played a major role in the
sustainability and revival of this authentic heritage, with the use of captive-bred
falcons growing exponentially in countries of the Arab Gulf.
In 1995, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan
Al Nahyan, may he rest in peace, worked to replace the use of wild falcons with
captive-bred, years later the UAE became the first country in the Middle East
to only use captive-bred falcons in the sport of falconry.
In parallel, and in the same year, the
Sheikh Zayed Falcon Release Program was announced with the aim of preserving
populations of wild falcons by providing them with sufficient opportunities to
breed in their natural habitats, which resulted in a remarkable increase in the
number of falcons breeding facilities in the world and the expansion and
development of the industry.
Emirati and international experts attribute
the success of efforts to use captive-bred falcons in the sport of falconry,
the remarkable increase in the number of falcon farms in the world and the
expansion and development of their industry, to Emirati efforts primarily
represented in the Abu Dhabi International Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition,
which was launched in 2003 by the Emirates Falconers’ Club, and the
announcement of the UNESCO In 2010 of the registration of falconry in the
Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage through international
efforts led by the UAE.
His Excellency Majid Ali Al Mansouri,
Secretary General of the Emirates Falconers’ Club and President of the
International Association for Falconry and Conservation of Birds of Prey (IAF),
said that Abu Dhabi worked early on developing an effective strategy for the
sustainability of this heritage sport, based on expanding captive breeding to
produce enough high-quality birds for sale at reasonable prices. This was done
in conjunction with awareness campaigns targeting falconry enthusiasts to
preserve wild falcons and limit their hunting.
He emphasized that such efforts reflect the
concern of the wise leadership to preserve heritage and sustainable hunting.
This ongoing and intense effort to strike a balance between the UAE’s
aspirations for comprehensive development and progress and preserving its
cultural and social legacies is a unique experiment that has won the admiration
and appreciation of the world.
The use of captive-bred falcons in falconry has lessened the pressure on wild falcons and increased their numbers. Abu Dhabi’s research and scientific efforts has helped in improving the breeds of falcons to become stronger and more immune to fungi and diseases. It also worked on producing selected species with distinctive hunting qualities and aesthetics.
Abu Dhabi International Hunting & Equestrian Exhibition
The Abu Dhabi International Hunting and
Equestrian Exhibition (ADIHEX), which is held annually in Abu Dhabi, is an
ideal regional and global forum from which to promote sustainable hunting. Thousands
of visitors to the exhibition, including falconers from the UAE, the GCC, and
around the world, are encouraged to use captive-bred falcons.
ADIHEX succeeded in promoting the idea that
captive-bred falcons have proven to be as skilled and efficient at hunting as
their wild counterparts, if properly cared for and trained. This is helping to
dispel the mistaken belief that some falconers hold, despite the lack of any
scientific evidence, that captured wild falcons are better hunters than falcons
that are captive bred and raised.
ADIHEX has played a major role in the
transformation of falconry in the region to the almost universal use of captive-bred
falcons in a sport which is so deeply rooted in Emirati heritage. This has also
resulted in an increase in the number of falcon breeding facilities around the
world to meet the growing needs of the sport.
ADIHEX is an important opportunity for both falconers and falcon
breeders,
because it coincides with the start of both, the
hunting season and the season for falconry competitions and championships, with
the end of one year and the beginning of the next. This is the prime time for
falconers to start acquiring the best captive-bred falcons with which to
compete in local and regional events, as well as using them to practice
falconry in nature reserves that allow it. At the forefront of these local
competitions are:
- The President's Cup Falcon Competition,
- Al Dhafra Festival Falconry Competitions,
- The "Challenges of Al-Zajil"
Falconry Championship in Abu Dhabi,
- Fakhr Al Ajyal (Pride of the Generation)
Falconry Championship,
- The Fazza Championship for Falconry
(Al-Talwah), which is organized by Hamdan bin Mohammed Heritage Center in
Dubai.
As well as the start of the annual hunting
season at the Al Marzoom Reserve which opens its doors to falconers and
traditional hunting enthusiasts from November to February, and the high season
at the Mohammed bin Zayed Falconry and Desert Physiognomy School in Remah and
Tilal Resort in Al Ain, whose courses in the art of Arabian falconry are in
high demand.
The Falcon Auction at ADIHEX 2019 witnessed
the participation of dozens of local and international companies specialized in
breeding the best falcons in the world. The bidding and competition between
falconers from various GCC countries for the best captive-bred falcons has
encouraged breeders to produce supreme falcons in different categories and make
them available to falconers at competitive prices.
This unique auction attracts falcon owners,
falcon farms, falconers from the UAE and all over the world, as well as VIPs
and businesspeople interested in the falconry sector.
ADIHEX has become an international platform
that recognises and presents the finest captive-bred falcon breeds in Abu
Dhabi. It allows people of all nationalities to purchase falcons of high
quality and excellent hunting capabilities, which encouraged entrepreneurs around
the world to invest in the captive-bred falcon industry.
In the past, falconers of the UAE and the
region had to travel abroad to buy falcons from private farms in Europe, but
ADIHEX has provided them with an ideal opportunity to purchase and sell falcons
bred within the best falcon breeding farms around the world
The Higher Organizing Committee of ADIHEX has invited breeders and
dealers of captive-bred falcons from various countries, whether they were regular attendees of previous or new, to confirm
their participation and secure a time slot in the daily falcon auction, due to the
high demand expected in the coming edition (ADIHEX 2021). ADIHEX organizers
provide a ready-made podium for breeders who wish to participate in the
exhibition’s auction, along with a range of facilities and logistical and
promotional services.
This is an ideal opportunity for breeders
and merchants of captive-bred falcons, individuals or facilities, to hold
auctions and sell their falcons directly to thousands of falconers looking to
buy the finest captive-bred falcons during the next edition of ADIHEX.
The UAE’s leading role in falcon breeding research
In 1989, His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin
Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the
UAE Armed Forces, gave directions to encourage and benefit from breeding
falcons in captivity for sustainable use and to reduce pressure on endangered
wild populations. A few years later, Abu Dhabi established several breeding
facilities, inside and outside the Emirates, which have been able to produce
thousands of captive-bred falcons.
These include centres in the United Kingdom
and other European countries, while appropriate methods were developed by teams
of specialists to train the falcons to hunt.
President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin
Zayed Al Nahyan, may God protect him, donated hundreds of falcons to falconers
participating in previous editions of ADIHEX. This was done out of His
Highness's keenness to support the preservation of the country's ancient
heritage and the falconry from extinction by promoting sustainable hunting, as
well as encouraging falconers to use the captive-bred falcons as an alternative
to endangered wild falcons.
Training falcons to fly freely in the air
is the most important step in breeding and training, because it allows young
chicks to spend time in their natural environment so that they grow and mature
physically and mentally.
Abu Dhabi supports genetic researches and
studies of falcons, through cooperation
with the Wildlife Advisory Group, Cardiff University, and the Beijing
Institute of Genomics, it was able to determine the genetic makeup of the
Eurasian Saker Falcon and the Peregrine Falcon, and identify genes that
determine the colour of feathers in Gyr Falcons, and using the DNA to select
individual Saker Falcons and study their ability to survive in Mongolia, in
addition to discovering the overall genome of the Saker Falcon and the
Peregrine Falcon.
Spain overtakes the UK, and falcon facilities in Russia are
new competitors.
According to the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES),
Spain has now become the largest global source of captive-bred falcons. The
president of the Spanish Falconry Association, Manuel Diego Pareja-Obregon,
said that Spanish breeders exported about 2,800 falcons to the Gulf region last
year and in doing so they overtook the UK, which exported about 2,500 falcons.
More than three thousand people are
employed in falcon breeding centres throughout Spain, carrying out everything involved
in breeding, raising, and training them. Among the advantages of Spain, its
weather, which makes these birds resistant to heat.
Falcons are bred in modern and well-equipped
facilities under the most suitable conditions and only the best specimens are
selected because falconers in the Arabian Gulf region are very particular and
will not accept a falcon with the slightest break in a feather.
Last year, the Government of the Kamchatka
Territory in Russia announced the construction of the first falcon breeding
facility in the Kamchatka Peninsula in the far east of the country. The
facility will be completed in 2022 and aims to attract falconers, as well as
tourists. The project includes breeding centres and a field for training falcons,
it aims to revive populations of birds of prey that the region has been famous
since ancient times but lost this wealth to illegal poaching and smuggling of the
birds.
According to the representative of the Ethnosport
World Society, Christina Karamishina, falcon breeders in Siberia have their
first opportunity to sell their birds officially in Saudi Arabia, where captive-bred
and trained falcons from Russia will be allowed to participate in competitions
and exhibitions in the Kingdom.
According to an agreement signed between the two sides in February 2021, falcons are exported from breeders in Altay and Krasnoyarsk and the hunting club in Tsarskoye in Suvoy Okhota, which is chaired by Karamishina.