Astana: Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, recently visited the Shaikh Khalifa Houbara Breeding Centre in Kazakhstan (SKHBC), which is supervised and managed by International Fund for Houbara Conservation (IFHC).
Shaikh Mansour toured a number of the new centre’s sections, and was briefed on the most advanced techniques and mechanisms used in houbara breeding operations. He was also briefed on the results of studies and research conducted by IFHC and its long term plans, which are to annually release 5,000 houbara bustards in Kazakhstan.
Accompanying Shaikh Mansour on his tour of the centre were Mohammad Saleh Al Baidani, Director General of IFHC, and other officials.
Al Baidani said that Shaikh Mansour’s visit had a positive effect on the centre’s steps towards building and strengthening its relations with Kazakhstan, a nation of strategic importance for having the highest number of migrating Asian houbaras in the world.
SKBHC is one of four centres in Kazakhstan that is being managed by IFHC, which aims to breed houbaras before releasing them into their natural habitat in the wild as per the international strategy launched by President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, which is in line with the vision of the late Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan. The strategy aims to reach a sustainable existence for houbaras in their natural habitat, which ensures the continuation of the falconry tradition for future generations.
