Blitzing Bahrain…Part 2.

The sign that first got my attention...

The most interesting part of my blitz through Bahrain, was also the most unexpected…

We had turned down a road that led to a wildlife breeding farm that was supposedly open to the public… The massive gates were locked and there was no sign to advice whether it was closed for good, or if the animals and their keepers had just taken the day off…

On our way back to the highway, I noticed a sign that said “Falcon Hospital”… At first I thought it was just the name for a normal hospital, as the building that it pointed too was far too large to be a hospital for birds, surely…!!

On impulse. I asked Ahmed to turn into the parking lot just to make sure…

We walked up to the front doors and before we opened them, through the glass I saw two hooded falcons sitting on a perch…!!

I stood back to take another look at the building itself, not believing that this was actually as hospital dedicated to Falcons…!!

I pushed through the doors and crouched down to get a closer look at the two falcons sitting quietly on their perch… The owner of one of them lounged nearby in a comfortable leather armchair…

This if anything seemed to confirm that falconry in the Arabian Gulf, was a sport practiced by the wealthy…!!

I could not believe that this large and modern building was a hospital exclusively for falcons...!!

The receptionist rose from his chair and greeted me warmly… I explained my interest in birds and birding in general, and without waiting for me to finish, he interrupted to ask whether I would like a tour of the facility…!!

I would have replied with “Is the Pope a Catholic…!!”, but I figured he might not understand that one…

Waiting for the Doc... And there was no running around making a noise either...!! Human children take note...!! Maybe parents should start "hooding" their kids too...!!

We walked down a wide passage, passing rooms where falcons perched on stands, presumably recovering from treatment of one form or another…

A door at the end of yet another passage opened, and out walked a tall Arab gentleman carrying a Gyr Falcon… It had been treated for an eye ailment, and perched quietly while I chatted to him about the bird…

He explained that it belonged to his employer, who had many more like it…

This patient had just come from a visit with the doctor...

The young Gyr Falcon was handled with care... The fact that she cost about $25 000 had nothing to do with it...!!

Falconry has been an integral a part of Bedouin life for centuries… Falcons and hawks were used to hunt for food to supplement the diets of their masters…

Today, it is the sport of Sheikhs in the Middle East…

Sheikh Zayed of the United Arab Emirates (he after whom the mosque in Abu Dhabi is named…) is considered to be an exppert in the sport of falconry, and in 1976 published a book on the subject, which is seen as an encyclopedia of sorts on the subject…

In 1996 he was said to have paid $200 000 (yes, two hundred thousand dollars…!!) for a single, jet black, Gyr Falcon, the largest true falcon in the world…

These falcons are only found in the sub-polar regions of North America, Europe and Russia, and during the Middle Ages, only kings were permitted to hunt with them…

Hence the modern day prestige attached to hunting with one of these powerful and beautiful birds…

Other falcons such as Lanner, Suker and Peregrines are also used…

The birds are trapped during their migrations across the Arabian Peninsula and then trained by handlers… Gyr Falcons are bought from trappers, as they never fly this far south…

The doctor I spoke to told me that falcons are often released back into the wild after a few seasons of hunting…

I discovered that there are at least 9 000 falcons in captivity in the Gulf Region alone, excluding Saudi Arabia ( nobody knows what goes on in Saudi, even the Saudis have no clue…!!) Apparently many scientists are bemoaning the fact that the falcons are often allowed to inter-breed with species other than their own, and the “mongrel” birds that are released, threaten the purity of wild populations, by reducing the original gene pool…

He went on to tell me that as there was very little prey left in the Emirates for the falcons to hunt, most owners took their birds on expeditions to Pakistan and Iran, to hunt there… They packed them into their private jets and spent weeks at a time hunting in the mountains of the above countries…

“They used to go to Iraq as well, but nowadays that place is a mess…!!” the softly spoken doctor advised…

He also told me that there are many more clinics such as this one, scattered throughout the Gulf…

“This one is by no means the biggest…!! Sheikh Zayed’s private clinic is even bigger…!!”

The mind boggles…!!

Back in reception, the “Lounger” got to his feet as the doctor called his name… Glove on hand, he went over to one of the falcons waiting patiently, clicked his tongue, and without any fuss at all, the bird hopped onto his glove…

Another bird prepares to receive some treatment...

After thanking the staff for allowing me to wander around their facility, Ahmed and I left to continue our tour of Bahrain…

“I can see that you enjoyed the birds…!! Your eyes were shining when you looked at them…!!” he said…

“Yeah, that was something special that I will remember for a long, long time…!!” I replied…

“This hospital is better than some of the people hospitals I have seen…!!” he went on to say…”It is so clean and big…!!”

Yeah, Ahmed, but can you swoop and dive down onto a fleeing pigeon or rabbit…?? No…?? When you can, hospitals like this one will be built for you…!!

I could have spent the rest of the day here...!!

©GBWT 2011