Falconry In India

[Sakobav]

vjs

Nice recap do post some more information

Best

[dr.jayakumar]

this is one field i never had an idea about.but thanks ngrewal for this thread to enlighten us.
regards

[ribaalber]

Ngrewal,

Brother me and Shahid Bhai are always in touch. We do converse regulalry discussing the ways by which Falconry can be made legal in India.
Shahid Bhai owns a pair of Peregrine Falcon and Laggar Falocn
Falconry is very near to my heart. The joy of seeing a peregrine dive or goshawk's rapid attack in bushes cannot be explained in words.

I would like to provide some information to all members
Peregrine, merlin, Red-headed, Saker and all hawks come under Schedule 1 of wildlife act 1972 which means caught up with 1 = Imprisonmnet upto 3 years or 25,000 /- fine or both.
So problem is with keeping the bird however the wildlife act does mention anything about Falconry and if a person can own the bird legally then it can be used to hunt blue rock pigeons, crows since only these 2 birds are declared as "Vermin" by India Wildlife Act.

Keeping Raptors requires care and expertise, else they are bound to die. I have seen several dying to negligence, bumblefoot, dieases etc.

There is a hope for falconry lovers in India. Very recently UNESCO has added falconry in its heritage list: http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/index ... 1&RL=00442 .... This has given us hope to represent ourselves in front of goverment and then there is lot of other things..... A book can b written .. for time being this much is sufficient

Any update on this? Has this even moved.. I know it takes time in India. But I just want to know if this has had any positive impacts to falconry so far


PS: The Schedule V of the Wildlife Act doesn't mention Blue Rock Pigeons as a Vermin. I hope it was there, but...
Please let me know if it is otherwise...

[hathubha]

I am working on a documentary film on the remnants of the falconers, who were brought to Bhavnagar for the training of birds, hounds and Cheetahs, for the royal family. Much has been published about them by the famed Craighead brothers and the National Geographic. They are currently involved in a successful raptor rehabilitation program that is privately run in Bhavnagar, and have worked with Cinerous Vultures, Peregrines, Bonelli's, Kestrels and over 50 other raptors. Their hereditary expertise in handling of the birds, understanding of their habits and food intake and overall knowledge of the birds of prey is astounding.

I would invite any expert opinions or relevant information if scholarly advice is available. Any related groups of such hereditary Baaz Dhaaris would be of crucial value.

[hathubha]

I think a similar group of falconers turned conservators exists in Dasada on the edges of the Rann of Kutch and a couple places in Rajasthan. And BTW, I am in possession of multiple very rare falconry videos from the Bhavnagar family that were kindly shared with my by Bapa. I have permission to use excerpts from these in my documentary.

[arundiablo2]

I believe the license which 'Falco_nish' referring to should be 'Certificate of Ownership'. As per the Wildlife protection Act one can process any Wild life by obtaining Certificate of Ownership from the 'Chief Wild Life Warden' of the state/district/union territory Under section 40 (Mentioned in 42).

If Warded provides this certificate, any Indian citizen can process an Wild life. You have to obtain another certificate (Trapping License) to capture one, where as if obtained legally (Never mentioned which means is legal), you may apply for Ownership certificate.

Let me know If any one has any further comments.

[brihacharan]

I remember reading a long time ago about Middle East Royals coming down to Rajasthan with their Falcons to hunt the Great Indian Bustard.

I have seen various types of Falcons at the Jurang park in Singapore - The trainer swings raw meat tethered to a long string which he rotates & the falcons swoop down to grab them. Its a paid show for the bird park visitors.
Briha

[Gary Timbrell]

I am Gary Timbrell, Secretary of the International Association for Falconry and Conservation of Birds of Prey http://www.iaf.org . I chanced upon this fascinating thread today by Googling the words "Indian falconry". I realize the last post on this topic was some time ago, so I hope you do not mind me reviving it, since it does include messages from several falconers and a quotation from my own 2005 article on the history of world falconry, which is now somewhat out of date since we have discovered many more pockets of authentic falconers in the world than we ever expected to.

IAF is an Accredited Advisory NGO to the UNESCO Intangible Heritage Committee and one of our obligations is to ensure falconry does not expire as a cultural heritage. We have always found making contact with falconers in India very difficult since many of them feel they cannot have a public face due to the laws under which they are obliged to live. We feel that this tragic thing, the final death of a millenia old cultural heritage, may be about to happen in India unless her falconers can unite in some way, communicate and engage with regional, state and federal government to change the laws. This can be done in many ways and IAF has experience of several, for example our status as an accredited member of IUCN and our CITES accreditation shows governments that falconers are also conservationists (IAF is simply a federation of falconry clubs from over different 60 countries). This accreditation has enabled falconers is Australia to convince government to allow falconry techniques for rehabilitation of injured wild raptors. Similarly in South America governments have been convinced to allow falconry because other governments e.g., France, Germany, Slovakia, even award their national falconry clubs status as bona fide wildlife conservation organizations.

I would be very happy to communicate with any falconer by email timbrell(at)iaf(dot)org or by PM if they prefer and would plea with users of this forum to help by putting anyone who wishes in contact with IAF. We really have to do something to stop the decline of falconry in one of its main cradles at the very moment when falconry is flourishing in almost ever other country where it is practiced and we need to take advantage of the UNESCO recognition that so many worked so hard on.

[supermisb]

That is fantastic news Gary ! The Australian episode is music to the ears.
I am very much willing to volunteer the cause in India. In-fact I had my head out, looking for groups/individuals who have/willing to put their efforts in this cause.

I rehabilitated a wounded Kite 6 months back and have been wondering about how this sport got lost. It was a black shouldered Kite. The forest department was just indifferent. I wanted to hand them the kite, but they made the process complicated !! They actually have no interest in conserving the birds whatsoever. A falconer would have obliged ! I however nursed him back to health and gave him to a rescue activist. My interest in falconry goes beyond and deeper than the rehabilitation event. I happen to be a connoisseur of Urdu poetry, especially those poems which highlight the shaheen or Iqaab[falcon] as an inspirational creature.

i see 3-4 people here have already knocked on some doors, I say let's converge the efforts.
Let's take this up.

I am working on some proposals that might interest the authorities. Let's have some discussions. You can reach me by email supermisb[at]gmail[dot]com
Adeel bhai we need to get together regarding this. Also Shahid Sir might be needed as well. Falconish, kindly oblige.

After all my favorite poem says

"Fiza e Mukhalif se na darr ae Iqaab//
Yeh to chalti hai tujhe ooncha udhane ke liye"

"Do not fear the winds of opposition o Falcon//
They blow only so that you soar higher !"

[Rydersnip44]

I am Gary Timbrell, Secretary of the International Association for Falconry and Conservation of Birds of Prey http://www.iaf.org . I chanced upon this fascinating thread today by Googling the words "Indian falconry". I realize the last post on this topic was some time ago, so I hope you do not mind me reviving it, since it does include messages from several falconers and a quotation from my own 2005 article on the history of world falconry, which is now somewhat out of date since we have discovered many more pockets of authentic falconers in the world than we ever expected to.

IAF is an Accredited Advisory NGO to the UNESCO Intangible Heritage Committee and one of our obligations is to ensure falconry does not expire as a cultural heritage. We have always found making contact with falconers in India very difficult since many of them feel they cannot have a public face due to the laws under which they are obliged to live. We feel that this tragic thing, the final death of a millenia old cultural heritage, may be about to happen in India unless her falconers can unite in some way, communicate and engage with regional, state and federal government to change the laws. This can be done in many ways and IAF has experience of several, for example our status as an accredited member of IUCN and our CITES accreditation shows governments that falconers are also conservationists (IAF is simply a federation of falconry clubs from over different 60 countries). This accreditation has enabled falconers is Australia to convince government to allow falconry techniques for rehabilitation of injured wild raptors. Similarly in South America governments have been convinced to allow falconry because other governments e.g., France, Germany, Slovakia, even award their national falconry clubs status as bona fide wildlife conservation organizations.

I would be very happy to communicate with any falconer by email timbrell(at)iaf(dot)org or by PM if they prefer and would plea with users of this forum to help by putting anyone who wishes in contact with IAF. We really have to do something to stop the decline of falconry in one of its main cradles at the very moment when falconry is flourishing in almost ever other country where it is practiced and we need to take advantage of the UNESCO recognition that so many worked so hard on.

Thats a great news sir i have already tried to contact few people who are trying to make it legal here

That is fantastic news Gary ! The Australian episode is music to the ears.
I am very much willing to volunteer the cause in India. In-fact I had my head out, looking for groups/individuals who have/willing to put their efforts in this cause.

I rehabilitated a wounded Kite 6 months back and have been wondering about how this sport got lost. It was a black shouldered Kite. The forest department was just indifferent. I wanted to hand them the kite, but they made the process complicated !! They actually have no interest in conserving the birds whatsoever. A falconer would have obliged ! I however nursed him back to health and gave him to a rescue activist. My interest in falconry goes beyond and deeper than the rehabilitation event. I happen to be a connoisseur of Urdu poetry, especially those poems which highlight the shaheen or Iqaab[falcon] as an inspirational creature.

i see 3-4 people here have already knocked on some doors, I say let's converge the efforts.
Let's take this up.

I am working on some proposals that might interest the authorities. Let's have some discussions. You can reach me by email supermisb[at]gmail[dot]com
Adeel bhai we need to get together regarding this. Also Shahid Sir might be needed as well. Falconish, kindly oblige.

Supermisb would like to contact you

[Dark smoke]

I just have. A quick question regarding the people still uploading vedios of falconry for Indian though quite a few but., is there any legal restrictions I belive obviously but how are they bypassing the same.

[goodboy_mentor]

I just have. A quick question regarding the people still uploading vedios of falconry for Indian though quite a few but., is there any legal restrictions I belive obviously but how are they bypassing the same.

There is Wildlife Protection Act 1972. The species considered endangered are listed in it's Schedules. Depending on the severity of "endangerment", they are put into different levels of the Schedule. I have not gone through Wildlife Protection Act 1972 for a long time, therefore cannot comment whether falcons are listed or not etc. If you want to know in details, then you can search the internet for "Wildlife Protection Act 1972" and read it in detail. Moreover India is a notoriously corrupt third world country, beyond the imagination of those living in first world countries. Theoretically speaking everyone is equal before the law on paper. Practically speaking, the law is only for the "ordinary", the high and mighty are usually above the law. Those in or close to political power can practically do whatever they want.

Added in 26 minutes 39 seconds:

I happen to be a connoisseur of Urdu poetry, especially those poems which highlight the shaheen or Iqaab[falcon] as an inspirational creature.

After all my favorite poem says

"Fiza e Mukhalif se na darr ae Iqaab//
Yeh to chalti hai tujhe ooncha udhane ke liye"

"Do not fear the winds of opposition o Falcon//
They blow only so that you soar higher !"

Falcon symbolically represents sovereignty. Many(especially those from Punjab) might have heard the phrase Baaj, Taaj, Raaj. Baaj means falcon. Taaj means crown. Raaj means sovereignty. My favorite one is the following -

Parvaaz hai dono ki ek hi fiza mein
Kargas ka jahan aur hai Shaheen ka jahan aur hai

Guzar aukat kar leta hai kowo ke aba mein
Shaheen ke liye zillat hai kare ashiyan bandi

Aukabi rooh jab bedar hoti hai nau jawani mein
Nazar ati hain unko apni manzil asmano par

Nahin tera basera kasre Sultani ke gumbad par
To Shaheen hain basera kar pahado ki chattano par

Tu Shaheen hai parvaaz hai kam tera
Tere saamne asmaan aur bhi hain

Gaye din akela tha mai anjuman mein
Jahaan mere raajdan aur bhi hain

Meaning in brief for those who cannot understand the above - The poet is metaphorically comparing the opposites, the vultures and falcons, both fly in the same air but are poles apart. Slave minded people who like vultures, eat dead meat, enjoy the leftovers or crumbs of sovereignty thrown at them by their masters. Freedom loving people like falcons, accept nothing less than complete sovereignty and are like falcons who eat fresh meat after hunting themselves. Like vultures, slaves keep company of crows and the opposite is freedom loving people who hunt fresh food, fly free like falcons. For them slavery even with all the material comforts of life, money etc. is unacceptably disgusting. When the conscience or soul of such freedom loving people gets awakened, they fly high like falcons to cause revolutions and break the shackles of slavery. This is the message of poet from what I have understood. I had heard this poem on YouTube. The voice of the person was not clear at times. If anyone knows more details of this poem, if some words above need correction, it's writer etc., it will be great.

[ymishra]

May I have the contact details of Mr Shahid from Jaipur.
Can anyone help me with this?