Asian Houbara

At the Abu Dhabi International Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition, the International Fund for Houbara Conservation announced that IFHC released to wild life more than 13,000 Asian houbara which exceeded their expectations. This number of houbara was collected from different centers which are located in the UAE. In addition, the number of houbaras released increased in Morocco from 14,734 to 17,262 and from 77 to 303 in Kazakhstan. The organization’s global target is 50,000 chicks in those countries.   

 The main reasons why the houbara population decreased are because the construction of the cities and new development and because of the hunters who want to train their falcons how to hunt or they may be hunted by shotguns. Moreover, falconry is in danger because of the poachers and non-traditional practices. Naturally, houbara is not a prey for most falcons but the falcons must be trained to hunt them.

IFHC distributed a survey during the exhibition to all falconers to determine the number of houbaras they need to meet their demands and how many wild birds are trapped and which areas require the reintroduction programme. “Another issue we face is that we cannot determine the size of the black market, which is why these surveys are important” Al Biadani said. In this year, IFHC targeted the primary and middle schools to educate students to be future hunters and falconers.