Poachers from Gulf threaten falcons

Illegal hunters are cutting into the populations of houbaras and saker falcons in Iran and Iraq.

Some species of falcon such as the saker are now considered endangered.

Prized in Arab culture as a bird that teaches its master patience, endurance and self-reliance, the falcon's history in the Gulf dates back thousands of years.

But a growing number of people eager to pursue these hunting roots has led to the poaching of threatened birds in the Middle East, conservation groups fear.

Some species of falcon such as the saker are now considered endangered and the number of houbara bustards, the quarries or targets for falcons, is also declining.

Experts said the extent of poaching taking place in countries such as Iraq and Iran was hard to pin down but they feared the problem was significant.

"Nobody really knows, and it is extremely difficult to determine how big the problem is," said Nigel Collar, an expert from BirdLife International, a global alliance of conservationists. "The trade is widespread and we think it is a widespread problem."

Loss of habitat and hunting have thinned the houbara bustard's population by a quarter in the Arabian Peninsula and North Africa in the past two decades. But Dr Collar said that, so far, there was only anecdotal evidence to suggest illegal trading.

"Falcons are for profit - they sell them at a considerable profit. But the hunting of houbaras is a sport," he said. Typically, the hunting season for houbara in the Arabian Peninsula begins in October, when the birds migrate for the winter from Central Asia into Iran and Iraq. Recent cases have shown that hunters illegally enter Iran and Iraq from other countries, including the Gulf.

On December 1, four Emiratis were arrested in Iran for illegally hunting the houbara without a permit in the country's western Ilam province. Officials from Iran's Environment Protection Organisation said they caught the men with 10 of the birds along with equipment such as falcon blinders, shotguns and walkie-talkies.

Last week, three Emiratis, who were believed to be part of a hunting group in Iraq, were kidnapped and later released. They were accompanied by their Iraqi host, who also was kidnapped. The men were hunting in an area north of Rawa, in Al Anbar province. It is a well-known bird hunting area.

A security source from Anbar, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the men were held hostage and released on December 5 after an intervention by Iraqi security forces and tribal leaders.

"Hunting is only allowed if permission has been issued from the ministry of environment. These men had no licence to hunt," said the source.

He continued that it was "quite common" for people from the Gulf "to come here hunting, and they often come without [entry] visas, or [hunting] permits.

"They get through the borders without visas, they are let in by security officers without paperwork. They shouldn't be but they are. It's a problem with our border controls."

The men were thought to have been kidnapped by the Sahwa militia, who asked for a ransom.

"There was no al Qa'eda involvement, this was a gang which saw an opportunity in the hunting season to extort money by kidnapping," said Hamid al Heyes, the chairman of the Anbar Salvation Council, a collection of tribal militia.

"We allow and encourage people to come here to hunt during the season, but they must do so with visas and permission from the security forces. These men made a mistake in not doing that."

Mudhafar Salim, the head of the bird division of Nature Iraq, an environmental organisation, said its teams had heard of poachers from the Gulf but had not yet encountered any during field research.

"Based on what we have heard, there are people from the Gulf who come to Iraq and get help from their friends to facilitate their staying and hunting," he said.

Conservationists said the rules governing the hunting and trapping of birds remained murky. Iraqi law prohibits the hunting of certain bird species. The trapping of falcons is not illegal but licences are required.

"There is no direct or clear text that mentions that hunting [certain] species is exactly banned, so it is not covered clearly," Mr Salim said.

* With additional reporting by Samar al Huneidi