Kings of the sky
Falconry in the Arabian Gulf is steeped in tradition and has long been a favourite pastime of Bedouin royalty. We visit Abu Dhabi to uncover this rich heritage and learn how its future is being shaped by modern technology.
A solitary figure dressed in flowing ivory robes stands on the horizon, atop a formidable golden dune. He is looking towards the setting orange sun, out across the Empty Quarter – a vast stretch of desert larger than France that covers almost one third of the Arabian Peninsula.
Despite the breathtaking landscape, Saeed Khamis Al Hameli isn’t taking in the view but rather focusing on a small black dot, circling high in the sky above. It is his falcon, and suddenly the bird dives, a blur of pace plummeting towards the Earth. There is a flurry of movement, a beating of wings, and the raptor latches on to its quarry using sharp talons and drops down to the ground. Saeed looks pleased and walks over to retrieve his bird, rewarding it with meat while he slips a delicate leather cap over its eyes.
‘Training is going well,’ he says, returning with the beautiful peregrine falcon perched on his arm. ‘Saeiqa is really living up to her name.’ In English, Saeiqa literally translates as lightning, and peregrine falcons are the fastest creatures in the animal kingdom. In a dive they can reach speeds up to 240mph – as fast as the legendary McLaren F1 road car.
Like his father and grandfather before him, Saeed comes out to the desert every evening to train falcons in the hours before sundown. ‘It is too hot for anything out here during the day,’ he explains. ‘But when the shadows grow long, the desert becomes alive: it is time for the falcons to take flight.’
As a member of the Abu Dhabi Falconry Club, one of the Arabian Gulf’s most prestigious member organisations, Saeed attends training sessions with other falconers at a private reserve – but he prefers to head off alone into the desert when possible.
‘It’s important to keep our nomadic roots,’ he says. ‘This country and our lives have changed so drastically in the last 50 years because of oil money that we sometimes forget local customs. Falconry is a way of keeping this link with history alive.’
People in the Gulf have been hunting with these birds for thousands of years. Originally it was a way to supplement the semi-nomadic Bedouins’ meagre diet, but it quickly became an integral part of desert life. It was a favourite pastime of Bedouin tribal leaders, and the ruling Sheikhs of the United Arab Emirates still own and fly falcons themselves.
In an attempt to preserve local culture, the UAE government is investing heavily in traditional activities and helping promote them. As a result, falconry is currently enjoying a renaissance in popularity among the higher echelons of society. Membership of exclusive falconry clubs and participation in esteemed falconry competitions is on the rise, as is the price these sought-after birds fetch at auction.
‘The creation of dedicated falconry clubs is very positive indeed,’ says Gary Timbrell, the Irish-born CEO of the International Association for Falconry. ‘Instead of individuals acting on their own, the creation of groups in the Gulf is enhancing knowledge and enabling the wider falconry community to share tips on training, medicine and technology.’
Further regulation of the falconry world is also helping to crack down on the black market. It is illegal to capture wild birds, and all falcons now have to be bred in captivity. ‘This is driving the international falconry market,’ adds Gary. ‘European breeders and falcon dealers are benefiting as birds are now selling for six-figure sums.’
In 2013, an Iranian Farsi Falcon sold for more than £450,000 at auction in Kuwait.
One big break from tradition, however, is that hunting is now heavily restricted in the UAE because of a lack of prey – especially the houbara, a game bird prized for its meat. This means that the practice has been transformed into a sport where birds and owners compete against each other in events of skill and speed.
‘There are now three distinctive events in falconry competitions,’ explains Rabih S. Yehya, Marketing Director of the Abu Dhabi Falconry Club. ‘These are the ‘Telwah’ or lure, the balloon, and the wireless aircraft.’
The Telwah is the traditional way of training a falcon to hunt, where one handler releases the bird 500m away from the owner, who skilfully twirls a rope with a bundle of feathers resembling prey on its end. The balloon and wireless aircraft events require the bird to chase a lure too. ‘For these new events we rely heavily on technology,’ reveals Rabih. ‘Precise timing devices are vital to training, as are drones and RC planes.’
The prestigious competitions attract crowds, and falconers, from all over the world – this year, the prize fund for the President’s Cup in Abu Dhabi stood at nearly £4.5m.
‘We are trying to make falconry more accessible,’ continues Rabih. ‘But it remains the preserve of the upper class as there are a wide number of expenses to consider. Ancillary costs of training and upkeep are rather high.’
Many falconers choose to keep their birds at specialist boarding centres such as the Abu Dhabi Falconry Club, where they live in air-conditioned housing and are pampered by a team of carers.
‘Most of the birds in the United Arab Emirates were bred in the northern hemisphere, so aren’t used to the soaring heat of the desert,’ explains Rabih. ‘Without air-conditioning they would be in grave danger so we provide them with chilled living quarters and large training gymnasiums where they can fly freely, as well as specially equipped vans to transport them to competitions and outside training centres.’
At the Abu Dhabi Falconry Club all of the birds eat a diet fit for a king, composed of quail, pheasant, chicken and wood pigeon, to complement their strict training regimes. They are subjected to regular medical checks and their wellbeing is closely monitored.
If a bird injures itself or falls ill, Emirati falconers have a number of resources to protect their investment. There are private clinics that specialise in treating falcons, including the Abu Dhabi Falcon Hospital, which is the largest of its kind in the world and the leading centre for falcon medicine. Since opening its doors in 1999, the hospital has treated more than 70,000 birds. Its reputation has grown internationally, and it is now one of the most popular tourist attractions in the Abu Dhabi Emirate.
‘The centre is open around the clock and offers a full range of treatments, including an intensive care unit,’ says Dr Margit Gabriele Muller, the director of the hospital. ‘Falcons who are brought to the hospital can be X-rayed or have their eyes examined at the ophthalmology department. We also pay special attention to respiratory conditions, such as asthma, which is a common complaint.’
Armed with miniature endoscopic cameras and laser equipment for surgical procedures on the precious birds of prey, the experienced staff working in the operating theatre wouldn’t look out of place treating the birds’ owners.
As well as its use in clinics, advanced technology plays a wider role in modern falconry ownership. Under UAE law, if an owner wants to take his bird abroad, it must be implanted with a microchip carrying an identification number that matches the animal’s passport and government-issued leg ring.
The Abu Dhabi Falconry Club has also launched an innovative electronic leg ring that is linked directly to its competition management system. The ring has a composite body, and the miniature computer chip inside provides accurate data on the falcon’s speed and flight distance, allowing owners and judges to analyse the performance of falcons participating in competitions. At barely three grams, it’s extremely light, and has no effect on the high-speed performance of the birds.
Specialist tracking systems are also widely used among falconers so their birds aren’t lost during training flights or competition. These small, lightweight ultra-high-frequency radio emitters clip onto a falcon’s tail feathers and transmit a signal that can be located up to 80km away with a hand-held receiver.
Even traditional falconers such as Saeed rely on the tracking systems. Before letting his birds fly, he always ensures that one of the lightweight emitters is attached to the delicate feathers, and that his receiver is picking up the signal.
‘Birds are simply too expensive to lose,’ he says. ‘It’s not only the money that goes into buying, training and keeping them, it’s also the emotional bond that is created between an owner and his bird. Losing a bird is like losing a small part of your soul. During flights, birds can easily get scared by something or injure themselves, so it’s good to have a back-up in case they don’t come back.’
Training at dusk is especially risky, as a full search can’t be mounted in darkness, and the desert is a hostile place at night. On this occasion, however, training goes without a hiccup and as night falls, Saeed attaches Saeiqa to a perch and sits down on a carpet in the sand to drink tea and relax under the desert stars.
It’s a beautiful scene that hasn’t changed for thousands of years, and one that will endure thanks in part to the modern technologies now at the heart of this ancient sport.
