Daily Times

Falconry, for all intents and purposes, begins with a capital P in the Arab world, particularly in Gulf countries like the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. The P stands for passion!The ready reference is about a rich history and tradition through the ages about which, there is not a shred of doubt. It is however, the less informed – and one suspects, deliberately twisted- narrative propagated in Pakistan about it as a bird of prey in the context of houbara bustard hunting where the plot gets lost. The cacophony drowns out reason – as often happens with most politicized issues. The rather stark irony therefore, is that the bird of supposed prey becomes the victim in this case!

It is therefore, all the more important to grasp the essentials before falling for the convenient clickbait about ‘birds of prey’. The falcon is almost synonymous with the Arab culture – to the extent, it is treated like a coveted treasure. Owning and caring for the bird is seen as an extension of national pride. Therefore, you are ever so likely to come across this manifestation in the form of competitions – beauty pageants included – to judge and anoint the most prized of the lot, literally!

Therefore,it is little surprise – even if it astonishes the outsider – what kind of money lands in the winner’s hand. Consider: The 7th annual falcon and raptor-husbandry festival, known as the Qatar International Falcons and Hunting Festival -Marmi The Challenge,held in January this year saw approximately 1,500 participants from across the Gulf in a spectacular show embraced by the royals, and where the first bird took home a neat packet of QR500,000 ($137, 336) in prize money besides a shimmering mantle piece! Falconry involves hunting using trained falcons with one expert putting a good trainer’s worth between a minimum of $15,000 to 400,000.

The Arab Gulf connoisseurs derive their love and passion from centuries old. The International Association of Falconry and Conservation of Birds of Prey denotes that in the Al Rafidein region of what is modern day Iraq, it was widely practiced 3500 years BC.The Babylonians are cited as having made a divan for falcons and game reserves for quarry species. Al Harith bin Mu’awiya, an early monarch of the present region that includes Saudi Arabia, was one of the first who trained and hunted falcons. The Omayyad caliphs and princes, Mu’awiya bin Abi Sufyan and Hisham bin Abdul Malek, practiced falconry and it enjoyed the same acclaim in the Abbasid period. Caliph Haroun Al Rasheed was fond of the sport and exchanged falcon gifts with the other kings.

Falconry is deemed to be a shining symbol of the region’s civilization; nearly half of the world’s falconers come from the Middle East, including the Arab region.The overriding philosophy is that hunting trips teach patience, endurance and self-reliance, and where, bravery can be learned from falcons.Arab poets raised many a toast to the falcon and all Arab classes – be they kings, sheikhs and cavalry – practiced falconry before handing it down to the next generations.

The UAE rulers spend millions of dirhams every year to purchase falcons from the UK and Germany, to name two major imports. No wonder, it is the only bird that requires a passport to cross borders. That step is meant to check the smuggling of the coveted bird, which interestingly, is also used to protect the roof of BurjKhalifa, the world’s highest skyscraper, from bird droppings!In Qatar, like the UAE, the love of the bird knows no bounds – as is evident from varied exhibitions of its archival history in museums, lectures of educational purposes, competitions to give wings to enthusiasts and specialized medical care for its preservation. Even the January festival was timed in keeping with the bird’s best interest – in a pleasant winter month when they are in good humor!

Following the festival, the Al Gannas Society – Qatar’s falconry association -in collaboration with the Souq Waqif Falcon Hospital and International Association for Falconry and Conservation of Birds of Prey conducted a conference – aptly entitled FalCon. FalCon reviewed the latest advances in the field of falcon veterinary, affording a unique opportunity for veterinarians, scientists, researchers, falconers and relevant governmental and non-governmental organizations to address the provision of scientifically-based care to the falcons and debate the cutting-edge research and literature in the field, with Qatar as the main platform. In February this year, Qatar’s leading ISP, Ooredoo, also launched a new machine-to-machine (M2M) service that uses innovative GSM/GPS solutions on Supernet – its turbo speed Internet service – to train and track animals and birds. The service, developed in collaboration with Qatar Tourism Company, is a materials science quality(MSQ) solution that increases productivity and efficiency by eliminating time-consuming steps involved in analyzing metallographic and materialographic samples). Ooredoo claims that unlike existing tracking solutions that involve a specific frequency that can restrict the owner to a maximum range of 150km, the MSQ powered by Ooredoo’s M2M solution works via GSM and GPS technologies to accurately locate the position of falcons and other birds of prey, in real time, without range limitations.

It can also be attached to camels, horses, dogs and other animals that roam or are used for hunting. The device, which was first showcased at the Qatar International Falcons and Hunting Festival – Marmi The Challengeat Sealine in January this year, deploys a transmitter and a navigator/PA. Besides tracking an animal’s location, MSQ can provide the current speed of the animal, distance from the owner, weather status, co-ordinates and battery status on the device, features that can provide vital information in race conditions.

Yousuf Abdulla al-Kubaisi, COO of Ooredoo Qatar, said: “Despite the strong tradition of hunting in Qatar, there were almost no products in the market that could be used for training a bird for competitions, and certainly not one designed specifically for this market. “We’ve developed this unique all-in-one MSQ service to support the traditional sport of falconry in Qatar, and have ensured that it is affordable and accessible for every sportsperson,” he concluded. This passion of falconry brings the Arab Royals to Pakistan with their support which has resulted in the conservation / Protection of wildlife / habitats, welfare of the habitat Communities and sponsorship of development projects in the field of education, medical, veterinary and infra-structures for the benefit of Pakistani brethren.