The festival highlights the role of women in falconry

“Abu Dhabi Hunting” .. a strong historical relationship between the falcon and the Emirati family

• The Mohammed bin Zayed Falconry and Desert Physiognomy School celebrated in 2018 the graduation of the world's first class of falconers.

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“Women in Falconry” is one of the themes of the important conference hosted by the Abu Dhabi International Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition in its next session, on “The Future of Falconry Sport”, in cooperation with UNESCO, and organized by the Emirates Falconers Club and the International Federation for Falconry and Conservation of Birds of Prey (IAF). ), which includes in its membership 110 clubs and institutions concerned with falconry, representing 90 countries with a total of more than 75,000 falconers around the world.

The exhibition will be held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, representative of the ruler in the Al Dhafra region and president of the Emirates Falconers Club, from 27 September to 3 October at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center, organized by the Emirates Falconers Club. The event is officially sponsored by the Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi, the International Fund for Houbara Conservation, and the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center.

The falconry activities organized by the UAE throughout the year in the last two decades encouraged girls to learn the arts, skills and science of falconry, hunting and hunting, which opened the door for them to participate in falconry competitions, as happened in the field of horses and other traditional sports.

It is noteworthy that the Mohammed bin Zayed School of Falconry and Desert Physiognomy celebrated in 2018, in Ramah and Tilal Resort in Al Ain in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, the graduation of the world's first class of falconers, after they succeeded in mastering Arab falconry, its ethics, rules and ancient arts. The school witnessed a great demand for learning the art of Arabic falconry and the traditions of living in the desert, and has so far been able to attract 2021 students of both sexes, including 1,163 males and 858 females.

The International Falconry Festival, which was organized by the Emirates Falconers Club in 2011, 2014 and 2017 in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, in addition to all sessions of the Abu Dhabi International Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition, witnessed the participation of a large number of falconers from around the world, as well as many researchers from Europe, the United States and Japan.

Abu Dhabi's heritage activities and events celebrated the presence of European-Japanese female falconers, veteran and promising falconers.

National privacy

For his part, Majid Ali Al Mansouri, Chairman of the Higher Organizing Committee of the Abu Dhabi Hunting Exhibition, Secretary General of the Emirates Falconers Club and President of the International Federation for Falconry and Conservation of Birds of Prey, stressed that "Emirati women are very keen on the privacy of their national identity and the customs and traditions of their society, of which falconry is one of its pillars. It is advancing and conquering all fields with confidence and strength.”

Falconry has become the sport of the Emirati family, as many families own birds. And the falcon once supported families, as the man used to go out to hunt and bring what he hunted to provide for his children, so there is a strong historical relationship between the falcon and the Emirati family, and then there was not much trouble in reviving this authentic heritage, especially that Emirati families are keen to visit Falconry activities and enjoying its shows in nature. Mothers are also keen to take pictures of their children with falconers and falcons.

In the Emirates today, there are falconers who train, teach and raise birds, and some of them specialize in falcon medicine. Just as there has been a boom in the past years in the field of Emirati women entering the world of equestrian and horses, it is not excluded in the near future the emergence of hundreds of expert falconers, although falconry is a hard sport. And it has trouble.

Today, the eight-year-old Emirati girl, Aousa Khalifa Al Mansouri, continues to steadily shine in various festivals and exhibitions, charting a career full of achievements. Her star has risen since she was about four years old, when she participated in the President's Cup for the sport of falconry. She also participated in the Abu Dhabi International Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition and the Fourth International Friendship Festival for Falconry in 2017, organized by the Emirates Falconers Club. She is considered one of the youngest falconers in the world. You are not the youngest.

Archaeologists from the University of California concluded, in a study for them published in April 2021 in the French National Geographic magazine, that between 30 and 50% of large game hunters in ancient times were women, which confirms the error of the prevailing belief that men in prehistoric times History They hunted, while women collected plants and looked after children.

Diana Dorman-Walters of International Wildlife Advisers UK says that a well-trained falcon was a highly prized bird, the finest gift that could have been given in the Middle Ages, to a man of nobility or even to the king himself. by anyone as an expression of gratitude.

For her part, British researcher Lisa Jarvis pointed out that the prize for beginner falconry in the United Kingdom was launched in 2006 and approved by the Falconry Authority, and focuses on the care and breeding of birds of prey among novice falconers, in addition to professional falconers. The award is designed to assess the trainees' ability to keep a bird in safe and healthy conditions through practice and the necessary background knowledge. In May 2011, a new component was added to the award, which is the adaptation and flight of a free bird of prey.

The Netherlands dreams of free flight

As for the Dutch falconer Tula Stabert, she says, “During the Middle Ages in the Netherlands we had enough space, but although space was not a problem, falconry was practiced on a small scale only. Nor did the Netherlands have any royal court like the rest of Europe. But in the South, Falconsward farmers developed a unique technique for hunting peregrine falcons on their migratory route. Their method of hunting and trading became very popular, and made Holland an important part of the history of falconry.”

She explains: “We have today a country dominated by urban tide, with limited space to practice falconry. Al-Shawaheen cannot fly in the elegant style that was prevalent in the days of the Low Falconry Club. Al-Baz became more and more known. Dutch law allows only these two types of prey to practice falconry, with a limited geographical range for prey. The existence of falconry depends on the balance between legislation and the Dutch cultural heritage, but it is still possible to practice falconry very well.”

“What we want is more space, legal falconry, and more hunting prey, in order to keep falconry alive in the future,” says Tola. We will always dream of free flight.”

Iraqi female falconers

Saeed Zarqani, one of the founders of the

Falconers Association, who participated in previous sessions of the Al-Bizra Festival, said: “His mother (Hamda Hussein - 82 years old) has been hunting with him and his father for 28 years, and a falconer has been hunting and training falcons. A family that inherited falconry, generation after generation.”

He stressed that “there are Iraqi falconers, but they still find it embarrassing to register themselves within the falconry associations, although the Iraqi Falconers Association does not have the slightest problem in registering them and giving them (identity), but customs and traditions may stand in the way of their appearance in public, and this is a problem in Iraq. Most of the Gulf countries.

10,000 years ago

Excavations and ancient texts proved, through new techniques in archaeological excavation, that falconry spread in the Middle East, especially in the Arabian Gulf region 10 thousand years ago, and then spread later, where it was known in the borders of Eastern Asia, as it was practiced in Europe and North America.

Falconry entered Europe through the Arab East, and falconry arrived in Japan about 2,000 years ago. The first falconer in Japan was of Korean nationality, and the emperor at that time granted him a Japanese wife, so his wife learned to use falcons for hunting. The first Japanese falconer was a woman.

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