Pakistan foils Falcon smuggling to Qatar

CAIRO – 17 October 2017: Pakistani airport authorities foiled a bid to smuggle nine precious falcons to Qatar and arrested the accused, Pakistan Today magazine revealed on Tuesday.

“On a tip-off, a joint team of the wildlife department and ASF carried out a search operation at the Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore,” Wildlife Department Punjab director general Ayaz Khan told Pakistan Today.

The paper revealed that during the operation, nine falcons hidden in a black bag owned by a Qatari national Ali Muhammad al-Sada were recovered, adding that the accused was leaving for his country via a private airline flight.

The ASF and wildlife department took the recovered falcons into custody and arrested the culprit; further investigation is underway.

The sport of falconry, the art of training hawks to hunt in cooperation with a person, is generally believed to have originated in Persia and the Mongolian steppes around 4000 B.C.

It was the sport of kings, who often gifted each other prized birds. Al-Harith bin Mu’awiya, of present-day Saudi Arabia, was one of the first monarchs to train and hunt falcons, elevating his falcons to royal status.

The Qatari government’s investment includes the Falcon Souq, a section of Souq Waqif dedicated to the sale of raptors. There are breeding centers for falcons in Qatar, but most falcons are brought in from countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan and Syria, among others.