Wealthy Gulf falcon-hunters who traditionally travelled to Asian countries in search of their prey are now heading to other destinations following the outbreak of bird flu in Asia two years ago.
"Emiratis, put off by the disease, are now opting to go to Iraq, Morocco, Algeria or Tunisia during the falcon-hunting season," which starts around this time of year, said Abdul Nasser Ali al-Shamsi, director of the Abu Dhabi environment authority, which regulates falconry.
In the past, Pakistan and Kazakhstan topped the list of Asian destinations for falcon-hunters from the oil-rich Gulf region, Shamsi told AFP on the sidelines of the Abu Dhabi 2005 International Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition.
The five-day exhibition opened in the United Arab Emirates capital of Abu Dhabi on Monday with the participation of 350 exhibitors from 36 countries.
Emiratis are banned from hunting falcons in their own country due to fauna-protection rules, Shamsi said.
UAE authorities are on alert to keep the country free of bird flu, which broke out in Southeast Asia in 2003 and recently appeared in Russia. "A dozen falcons coming from Ukraine and bound for Bahrain were seized as they transited through Dubai airport" recently, Shamsi said. A government commission has also been set up to investigate how 95 falcons from Russia found their way into the UAE, he said.
"The agriculture ministry allowed the 95 birds coming from Russia to enter the country after a simple routine check at the border" even though imports of poultry from that country were banned by the government on August 1, Shamsi said.
Majed al-Mansuri, secretary general of the Abu Dhabi environment authority, had complained that "some sides apparently don't take the matter seriously."
"The spread of bird flu to the country would be the biggest catastrophe it could face," he told reporters on Saturday.
Asia has been battling bird flu with vaccination campaigns and massive culls of tens of millions of chickens and ducks that have devastated poultry industries, particularly in Thailand and Vietnam.
Bird flu has killed 62 people in Asia in the past two years, including 43 in Vietnam. Like the UAE, other Gulf Arab countries, which are home to millions of Asian workers and whose nationals used to go hunting in Asia, are now taking precautions to keep the deadly disease out.
In Saudi Arabia, where falcon-hunting has many fans, "only a few hundred are travelling abroad" to practice their favourite sport, an official from the Saudi authority for the protection and development of the environment told AFP.
Local hunting contests are organised to promote the traditional and hugely popular sport among Saudis, said a Saudi falconer attending the Abu Dhabi exhibit.