What the hell, can I get a passport and take a plane in the UAE?

If you haven't been paying attention to the 2020 Dubai Expo, you may have missed out on an extremely imaginative pavilion architectural design - that is the pavilion of the organizer, the United Arab Emirates . It is inspired by the hunting falcon and simulates the form of spreading its wings forward to surround its prey. The design also uses moving structural wings, which on the one hand facilitates the adjustment of ventilation and lighting, and on the other hand makes the simulation of this bird of prey more vivid.

UAE Pavilion at Dubai Expo | pexels.com

The UAE chose the falcon as the national image, which was not a whim. On the contrary, the falcon is the favorite bird of the UAE people and the national bird, connecting the country's history, present and future. We can see the falcon everywhere, on the UAE's national emblem, on banknotes, and on the icons of government departments and units.

The main body of the UAE national emblem is a hunting falcon with its wings spread, with the national flag emblem on its chest and the country's name written in Arabic under its claws | Government of the United Arab Emirates / wikimedia commons

You may be a little confused. The UAE is not even a nesting place for falcons - falcons just pass through here during migration . How can it become a national cultural symbol of the UAE?

This has to start with the falcon's super hunting ability.

Birds of Prey fighter

The Saker Falcon (Falco cherrug) is a member of the Falconidae family. It is widely distributed and lives in inland grasslands and hilly areas. It mainly inhabits open areas in mountainous areas, river valleys, deserts and grasslands. Compared with other Falconidae raptors, the Saker Falcon has lighter plumage and mainly feeds on birds and small animals . Saker falcons living in Russia migrate to avoid the harsh winter, while Saker falcons in other areas are basically resident birds.

Saker falcon in the snow | Bohuš Číčel / wikimedia commons

Saker falcons weigh 680-1200 grams and are 43-59 centimeters long. They are not big among birds of prey, but they are extremely maneuverable , fierce and flexible , and can even fight against golden eagles with a wingspan of two meters. Compared with falcons of the same size, the wings of the Saker falcon are wider, so they are more powerful in the air; their claws are larger and sharper, so they can firmly grasp their prey; their beaks are short and curved, so they can cut off the spine of their prey, killing them with one blow.

When swooping down on prey, the falcon can reach speeds of more than 280 kilometers per hour , which is death to small animals on the ground. When dealing with flying tits, larks and other small birds, the falcon will launch an "air strike" like a fighter plane - after catching up with the prey in the air, they will use their wings to hit it until the prey loses the ability to fly and falls from the air, and then the falcon will dive and capture it.

Saker falcons have great flying abilities | Saumitra Newalkar / wikimedia commons

Agile Hunter

Falcons are known for their speed, strength and agility, and they have excellent hunting skills and vision. As early as 4,000 years ago, humans figured out a way to domesticate them to help catch some fast-moving and highly concealed birds and beasts.

People love this agile king of the sky , regardless of time or region. In addition to the United Arab Emirates, the hunting falcon is also the national bird of Hungary and Mongolia. From deserts to grasslands, many rulers in history have loved falcon hunting. Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II even wrote an authoritative hunting book, "Hunting with Falcons".

Illustration from The Art of Hunting with a Falcon | Web Gallery of Art / wikimedia commons

The UAE is located on the southern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in southwestern Asia. It has a tropical desert climate, with plenty of sunshine but lack of precipitation and groundwater. The climate is dry and hot, with summer temperatures as high as 40 to 50 degrees Celsius. Most of the territory is desert and saline-alkali land , and the natural environment restricts the development of agriculture and animal husbandry.

Dubai is surrounded by desert | Caleb Whiting / wikimedia commons

The Bedouins living in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant and Mesopotamia have lived in vast desert areas since ancient times, following water and grass for a nomadic life ("Bedouin" itself means "people living in the desert"). For them, falconry is not a hobby, but an important survival skill for obtaining meat - in the vast desert of the Arabian Peninsula, it is extremely difficult to use hunting dogs to catch animals such as bustards and hares; but if "air strikes" can be used, the success rate of hunting will be greatly improved.

A falcon being trained for falconry | Ferran Pestaña / wiki commons

Every year, falcons fly from Asia to their winter nesting grounds in Africa, crossing the Arabian Peninsula, and the Bedouins capture and train them at this time. After the hunting season, they will release the falcons back into the wild to avoid affecting the population. Because of their hunting advantages and adaptability to the desert, falcons account for the majority of domesticated game birds.

Some common gadgets used in training falcons, including hoods, foot bells, etc. | Encyclopædia Britannica (1911) / wikimedia commons

In Islam, if a hunting animal is trained and the owner recites the name of Allah when releasing it, the prey it catches is legal . The chapter of feasting in the Quran states that "Allah allows you to eat the prey caught by hunting animals", and the "hunting animals" in this sentence include falcons.

Falcons and emerging nations

The United Arab Emirates is the youngest federal state in the modern Gulf region and one of the richest countries in the region. But in fact, the founding of the UAE also owes its credit to falcons .

The founding president of the UAE, Sheikh Zayed, took advantage of the sheikhs' common interest in falconry to hold a falcon hunting conference and convened everyone to discuss the establishment of the country. In 1971, the seven emirates established a federation, broke away from the "protection" of Britain, and gradually controlled their own oil and gas industry. The national economy and per capita GDP have since soared.

Today, Dubai, the most populous city in the UAE, is one of the most prosperous cities in the world | Robert Bock / wikimedia commons

Before the UAE became rich due to its oil resources, its economy was traditional and backward, mainly based on nomadism, pearling and maritime transportation, and its social form evolved from the ethnic tribes of the past. After obtaining a large amount of oil wealth, nomadic culture still has a profound impact on this country, the only country to participate in the United Nations in the name of an emirate.

Nowadays, in the Middle East, people no longer need to survive in the desert where food is scarce, but it is still very common to keep falcons as pets. On the one hand, this is due to people's preference for traditional hunting culture, and on the other hand, the rich and powerful regard it as a symbol of wealth and status .

Camels, scimitars, horses, hunting falcons... When these things are no longer necessary for Arabs' daily lives, they have become the hobbies of the rich and a means of showing off and competing with each other | Khaleej Times / wikimedia commons

President Zayed also promoted falcon hunting to the international level, holding the first World Falcon Hunting and Conservation Conference in 1977. The UAE is also the first country in the world to issue passports for falcons , and now all Gulf airlines allow falcons to fly in their cabins .

On this flight to Jeddah, there seemed to be more birds of prey than humans in the cabin | Ahmet Yasar

Heat is a double-edged sword

Seeing this, you may think that the falcon is a "winner in bird life" with a high status. However, factors such as habitat shrinkage and electric shock from high-voltage wires seriously threaten the survival of the falcon. The illegal poaching caused by falcon hunting activities has greatly affected the population of the falcon.

Take a look at the UAE Pavilion at the World Expo from a different angle | pexels.com

Since the 1990s, due to the popularity of wealthy people in the Middle East, falcons and other birds of prey in Northwest China have been poached in large numbers by criminals and smuggled out of the country. In 2008, Ningbo Customs cracked a major falcon smuggling case involving 82 falcons from Ningxia, Gansu and other places; the criminals transferred them in Zhejiang and smuggled them to the Middle East through Shanghai Pudong International Airport in the name of "glass goblets". This major case is by no means an isolated case. In fact, there are countless poachers lurking in other countries along the falcon migration route.

In addition to China, major cases of falcon smuggling have also been seized in Russia, Pakistan, Syria and other countries | Border Guard Department in Altai region

Saker falcons are an important member of the grassland ecology. Together with other birds of prey, they control the number of rodents and maintain the balance of the ecosystem. They should be a very strong species. However, due to various factors, they have now been classified as endangered (EN) species by the Red List of the World Conservation Union (IUCN).

Protection, open "money ability"

Harming others in the name of love is not desirable. The UAE government is aware of the importance of protecting rare wild animals and has taken a series of measures to combat poaching and smuggling. It has also formed a scientific research and protection team to protect the endangered falcon population.

Since 1998, the Federal Environmental Protection Agency has carried out active scientific research planning , established a special clinic for falcons, improved the survival rate of falcons, tried to ensure that they can still survive in the wild after being released at the end of the hunting season, and at the same time studied the possibility of breeding falcons under artificial conditions. In the first breeding season of Sheikh Buti in Dubai and falconer Howard, they hatched and raised 15 falcons. But their ambition does not stop there: "Eventually, we want to release most of the birds we raise back into the wild ."

The Abu Dhabi Falcon Hospital, established in 1999, has become a famous tourist attraction because of its luxurious facilities and complete services | trawell.in

In 2016, Emirates signed the Buckingham Palace Declaration and joined the Alliance for Wildlife Transport Task Force to curb illegal wildlife trade. Emirates is also a member of ROUTES (Reducing Opportunities for Illegal Transport of Endangered Species), which has a zero-tolerance policy towards illegal wildlife trade .

At the same time, the UAE has also made reforms to falconry, completely banning the domestication of wild falcons and falcons. Only falcons and falcons with identity documents proving that they are artificially bred can participate in the annual competition. In addition, the UAE also promulgated a new law in 2017, prohibiting the keeping of any wild or domesticated dangerous animals as pets, and violators will be severely punished (this move also hit the trend of showing off wealth by keeping lions, tigers and leopards).

Aerial view of the UAE Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai | virtualexpodubai.com

In June 2021, the UAE launched the wildlife monitoring satellite "Ghalib" to study the migration patterns of birds and remote areas and their breeding activities, which is in line with a series of national strategies and plans issued to protect local biodiversity . The National Bird Research Center, chaired by Air Force Lieutenant General Mohammed, Chief of Staff of the UAE Armed Forces, released dozens of falcons in Central Asia and used satellites to track their activities, migration routes and breeding areas.

The ultra-small artificial satellite "Ghalib" that tracks falcons was launched by the American company SpaceX. The rocket that carried it into space happened to be the "Falcon 9 (strictly speaking, it should be translated as Falcon 9)" | binghalibeng.com

In addition, the UAE government has designated Sir Bani Yas Island, which covers an area of ​​87 square kilometers , as one of the largest nature reserves in the Middle East . There are many endangered animals on the island. The former desert sand island has been transformed into a planting experimental field and ecological protection area. In addition to falcons, the main birds on the island include wild geese, flamingos, African ostriches, etc., including resident birds, migratory birds and birds introduced from abroad. There is a bird clinic on the island, and it is now one of the rare species nature reserves recognized by UNESCO.

Although it still looks like a lot of human activity, this island has become a new home for many rare wild animals | Ismail alghussein / wikimedia commons

In the eyes of the UAE people, the falcon symbolizes nobleness, loyalty, bravery, freedom, elegance and other beautiful qualities. Today, the UAE people have begun to restrain their desire to show off their wild animals and devote themselves to the cause of wildlife protection guided by science . It is hoped that the falcon can reverse its endangered fate and fly freely in the sky and in the wind for a long time.

Author: Ditang

Editor: Old Cat

This article comes from GuokrNature (ID: GuokrNature)

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