Riyadh: Falconry continues to be a popular sport in Saudi Arabia. With receiving sufficient quantity of rain and most desert places turned into green, a large number of people in the Arabian Peninsula started setting out for their favorite traditional sport of falconry.
Falcon enthusiasts include many princes and shaikhs from across the GCC states. Thousands of falcons are employed for falconry on the Arabian Peninsula each year.
According to researchers, first trainer of Saker (Falcon chirrup) was Harith bin Muawiya bin Thour bin Kinda in the ancient period. The Saker is most popular because it is well suited to desert hawking.
The falcon has very sharp talons and it is necessary to wear a thick glove when attempting to hold it. The female, larger and more powerful than the male, is a brave, patient hunter with keen eyesight, and copes better under stress.
In the Kingdom, many lovers of this sport set out for hunting normally by weekend. They carry falcons into desert places.
It is amazing to see that these falcons fly out in search of their prey, and their pursuit would take even several days.
Saker falcon can spot its prey while a mile high up in the sky. It can transcend quickly with exact precision and catch its prey.
According to a statement by Mohammed Khalaf Al Mazroui, head of the Higher Committee for Organizing Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition and Conference in UAE, the volume of money spent by Saker falcon hunters in the GCC states ranged between 1.5 billion Dirhams and 2.5 billion Dirhams annually.
Faisal Al Shaheel, a Saker falconer, told Gulf News that falconry is a most interesting sport for him.
"My friends and myself spend several days in risky journey in our falconry. Sometimes, we used to set up huts on top of rugged mountains and put a net with pigeons inside. Then, we leave the place for a while. When come back, we could see falcons trapped inside the net," he said adding that falconers, who set out for hunting, sometimes erect tents and spend there two or three months engaged in their sport.
His friend Naif Al Shamri said that they see falconry as a loving sport rather than its material benefit.
There are exclusive markets for Saker falcons in the GCC states and Jordan. Prices of some hunting falcons cost up to one million Dirhams.
