Dubai: A camera-equipped eagle will fly from the top of the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, and capture unique footage that will be broadcast to the world on March 14.
Using cutting-edge technology — the world’s smallest action camera, a Sony ActionCam Mini — the flight will record an extraordinary bird’s eye view of the landscape and set a new world record for the non-profit conservation movement Freedom.
If achieved, the White-Tailed Eagle’s flight from the top of Burj Khalifa, which stands at a height of 829.8 metres, will represent a world first and set a new world record as the highest recorded bird flight from a man-made structure.
The charity Freedom works in collaboration with a leading conservation initiative, Save our Species (SOS) and Unesco, to raise awareness of the plight of endangered animals, many of which are recorded on the IUCN Red List of endangered species.
The eagle attempting the flight, named Darshan, is an example of a threatened species, which has been successfully rehabilitated through global conservation programmes, and will act as an ambassador for endangered animals all over the world. The eagle, once on the Red List of endangered species, has been saved from extinction.
Birds of prey are rooted in the heritage of the UAE – the Golden Falcon is the nation symbol of the UAE, and Dubai firmly supports international efforts such as Freedom Conservation to protect threatened species.
Despite its rapid development as a major regional business centre, Dubai has long recognised its responsibility towards preserving its environment, mainly its unique desert habitat. Over the past three decades, many natural reserves, along with several laws, have been established to protect threatened animals.
The UAE, in general, has always been active in conservation of endangered animals like creating over 15 natural reserves around the country and planning a number of rehabilitation programmes.
Freedom’s eagles have flown from iconic landmarks across Europe, including the Eiffel Tower in Paris and St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, recording unique footage that has attracted record audiences to its conservation efforts. Images recorded by Freedom’s Eagle were the most viewed online animal images of 2013 and 2014.
Freedom’s eagles are trained by world-renowned falconer Jaques-Oliver Travers, who has pioneered new techniques to increase the reintroduction rate of endangered eagles to the wild that include paragliding, skiing and kayaking to teach vital survival skills. He has since been dubbed ‘the man who teaches eagles to fly’.
