From NALINM@AOL.COM Mon Feb 28 12:15:11 2005
Date: Sun, 27 Feb 2005 22:57:44 EST
From: NALINM@AOL.COM
To: nathistory-india@Princeton.EDU
Subject: Article on Houbara Bustards
[ Part 1, Text/PLAIN (charset: Unknown "UTF-8") 159 lines. ]
[ Unable to print this part. ]
[ The following text is in the "UTF-8" character set. ]
[ Your display is set for the "US-ASCII" character set. ]
[ Some characters may be displayed incorrectly. ]
Dear All,
The below article on Houbara Bustards taken from Gulf Times in UAE may be
of interest to some NHI list members.
Thanks
Nalin
----------------------
Taming the houbara to keep it alive
| By Kavitha S. Daniel Staff Reporter | 22/02/2005 | Print this page
Five aviaries at the National Avian Research Centre in Abu Dhabi work to
breed the falconâ^Ā^Ųs favourite prey in a controlled environment
We get a quiet, cold reception at the white, barn-shaped aviary. You
would not believe that it is located in the middle of the open desert
near Sweihan, Abu Dhabi - the temperature is a numbing 7 degrees Celsius.
And you would not believe that the freezing temperature, the special
lighting and the near-deathly silence all combine to keep alive a species
tottering towards the edge of extinction, thanks to it being the
falconâ^Ā^Ųs favourite quarry.
Here at the Abu Dhabiâ^Ā^Ųs National Avian Research Centre (NARC), a part
of the Environmental Research and Wildlife Development Agency (ERWDA),
many experts put their heads together to increase the houbaraâ^Ā^Ųs
numbers.
The research centre developed and published a conservation strategy for
the Asiatic houbara in 1999 and has contributed extensively to developing
the action plan of the Conservation of Migratory Species (CMS) Agreement
on the Asian Houbara.
The urgency of it all is not misplaced. The official IUCNâ^Ā^Ųs - The
World Conservation Union - category for the houbara is vulnerable. In
laymanâ^Ā^Ųs language, this means their population is seriously
decreasing and they are at risk of becoming endangered.
Dr Olivier Combreau, director, NARC, warns that the bird will be extinct
in 15 years if there are no immediate measures to stem the decline.
But that may not happen just yet, given NARCâ^Ā^Ųs efforts to breed the
birds in captivity. Five aviaries have already been set up here. There
are rows of soft-fenced cages, each housing individual houbara bustards -
speckled and sandy-coloured with pale yellow eyes.
The 59 cages here are fitted with tiny containers and provided with
specially-manufactured food pellets and water.
The bird-keeper spends a great deal of time with the birds to familiarise
them with the human touch. He uses tiny worms, their supplementary food,
to entice them. Intensely shy and reticent - that explains the silence -
a bird moves towards him gingerly, head cocked to one side.
Carey McCarty, aviculturist and NARC assistant scientist, explains,
â^Ā^ÜWe try to maximise our contact with the houbara to make them
comfortable enough to participate in our artificial breeding
programme.â^Ā^Ý
The programmeâ^Ā^Ųs final aim is to make the wild bird, a member of the
avian family, tame and amiable. The programme is largely indigenous,
evolved over time, like most other programmes.
The actual breeding process is also similar. The male houbaraâ^Ā^Ųs semen
is collected and after careful analysis, an appropriate female bird is
inseminated.
Once the eggs are hatched - NARC reports a 60 per cent success rate -
they are transferred to a special incubator. After 23 days, the houbara
chick emerges and the taming of the houbara begins as each chick is
handled and fed by humans.
When the chick is a few months old, it is moved to another temporary
shelter and later shifted to environmentally-controlled structures.
What is original at this centre is that we do not breed the houbara in
the open but indoors, reveals Combreau.
NARC has worked hard to develop and master taming techniques, diets, the
husbandry and environmental parameters in the controlled, artificial
environment.
This includes exchange of technical know-how and research with Saudi
Arabiaâ^Ā^Ųs National Commission of Wildlife Conservation and Development
in Taif and the Emirates Centre for Wildlife Propagation in Morocco and
other institutions.
The centre periodically sends researchers to the houbaraâ^Ā^Ųs natural
habitat in countries such as China, Kazakhstan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and
northern Iran for three to four months. â^Ā^ÜA fair amount of research
has emerged from this programme,â^Ā^Ý says Combreau.
All that research and effort seems to have paid off. In fact, NARC is now
thinking of doubling the breeding. â^Ā^ÜIf our experiment to breed
indoors is successful, we can hope to produce houbaras twice a year in
the next five years,â^Ā^Ý adds Combreau.
NARC has already been on a breeding spree - from 22 bustards in 2001 to
223 in 2004. But it is not keen on massive production. The centreâ^Ā^Ųs
target is 1,500 houbara bustards.
Houbara bustards grown in controlled conditions and in captivity are
either kept for future breeding or released in the wild to establish
self-sustained populations in the UAE or abroad.
One of NARCâ^Ā^Ųs aims is to be able to hand over houbaras to falconers,
reducing the pressure on the wild birds.
But captive breeding is just one of the ways to check the birdsâ^Ā^Ų
decline. CITES - the Convention on International Trade in Endangered
Species - is another.
It is a good tool to stop illegal activities such as hunting and the
falconerâ^Ā^Ųs mindset is slowly changing. But it will take another 20
years for things to really change, says Combreau.
Only that and more captive breeding centres can ensure that the houbara
gets to roost in peace.
Houbara findings
Why the houbara is on a decline
* Poaching in countries where the houbara breeds or migrates. It is
illegal to import the houbara into the UAE to trade in them.
* Unsustainable hunting: Falconers have extended their hunting grounds
to Central Asian countries, which are core breeding grounds for
migrant Asian houbara.
What needs to be done
* Limit hunting: Hunting should be limited to the traditional winter
hunting period from mid-October to the end of February.
* Establish designated areas of hunting.
* To be permitted only by falconry and not by shooting.
* Protection of migrant and resident populations after being mapped and
described.
* Monitoring of breeding population.
* Falconers should refuse to purchase wild houbara.
* Establish awareness programmes for falconers.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/FeaturesNF.asp?ArticleID=152975
ÂĐ Al Nisr Publishing LLC - Gulf News Online | contact
editor@gulfnews.com