Wednesday, May 02, 2012 -
Sixty-six falcons sheltered by an Abu Dhabi falcon hospital will be released in Kazakhstan shortly, the hospital said on Wednesday.
The falcons have been recuperating in the Falcon Hospital Abu Dhabi (FHAD) for the past 12 months, the Abu Dhabi-based Khaleej Times reported hospital director Dr. Margit Muller as saying.
“We checked and made sure their health is good and in the past couple of months, they have been training as well,” Dr. Muller added.
Not all of the falcons were discovered in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), she said.
“Some of the 66 falcons that we are releasing this year have been confiscated on the borders or on the UAE and some were injured birds from previous releases,” Dr. Muller said. “We also had some wild falcons given to us from other countries like Bahrain.”
Falconry is a central part of Kazakhstan’s culture.
Funding for the falcons’ recovery and release is provided by the UAE’s Sheikh Zayed Falcon Release program, founded 17 years ago.