Hawking Club of Punjab released birds

Lahore : Hawking Club of Punjab has released Shaheens which were recovered from ignorant handlers in miserable condition both were treated & rehabilitated with the help of veterinary doctors from UVAS.

Release of Birds of Prey back to wild is a part of conservation activities of HCP .

HCP released two Shaheen falcons one was Black Shaheen (Falco Peregrinus peregrinator) & the second was Red Napped Shaheen (Falco pelegrinoides babylonicus) both are resident falcons of sub-Continent.

In winter they spread in the plains of Pakistan along the rivers, lakes, head works & barrages, where the hunters are already present with their erected nets to trap them, the trappers sell the costly falcons like Peregrine & Saker falcons which comes from Russia, to dealers who further sell them to Arabs at high prices but the shaheens are either used by them as decoy or Barak hawk to trap costly falcons or being sold to local people who are affectionate of keeping them and due to unfamiliarity with handling techniques ultimately killing them & this is “a major threat to their population”, These birds roost mostly on the main electricity power supply towers near towns & cities from where they easily prey on domestic pigeons & in return making pigeon fanciers their enemies who try their level best to shot them to save their expensive pigeons.

As the mission of HCP is “Conservation through Education”, the area we selected was the bank of River Ravi where these falcons visit during winter & we got two benefits of release, one we not only involved the local community including pigeon fanciers, trappers & agricultural land owners to tell them about the importance of these Shaheens in our Eco System, secondly as that was back migration period of falcons towards mountains hence it was the most appropriate time of release.

All the Club members were present on the event, Special guests were Shah Rukh Butt Honorary Game warden Punjab, Bader Munir Ex.Honorary Game Warden Punjab, Zahid Iqbal khan Deputy Director Rtd. Punjab Wildlife & Parks Department Lahore, Proff. Dr.Anila Durrani from UVAS Lahore, Hakeem Ahmed Saleemi Council Member National Council for Tibb Islamabad, Hakeem Atta ur Rehman Siddiqui Lahore, the event ended with the words of thanks to all the participants from HCP president Dr.Kamran Abid.