2010
In April 2010, Harris hawks became readily available, presenting a new challenge for me as I had previously only flown South African shortwings and longwings. The hype surrounding Harris hawks at the time was intriguing and bought a young female.
Later that year, as BFC Chairman, I had a challenging situation. I was contacted by an agent of a Saudi falconer. It was explained to me that this gentleman had arrangements with the founding member of the BFC to come and hunt with his falcon in the Western Cape and Northern Cape and was struggling to get hold of this member for the final arrangements.
It was explained to me that this gentleman had arranged everything with our BFC member and that the falcon was already in Cape Town, quarantined at the Sandveld quarantine station in Milnerton. This news came as a shock, and I found myself in a challenging situation. This BFC member did not follow BFC protocol, made this arrangement in his private capacity, fully knowing that to fly falcons in the Western Cape, you need to be a graded member of a Western Cape falconry club. The BFC received no application or was given any notice. Any bird, no matter what species, is bound for 30 days in quarantine.
The Saudi falconer was not aware of these control measures, and despite the falcon having a CITES passport, these passports are not valid in South Africa. The falcon CITES passport allows falconers to travel freely in Europe without quarantine requirements. In short, I informed this agent that his client will not be able to hunt with his falcon in the Western Cape and/or Northern Cape, where falconry is illegal. It was agreed that the falcon would be returned to its owner. I contacted the state vet to obtain the necessary export procedures. On June 3, 2010, I collected the falcon from the quarantine station. Immediately, I took it to my veterinarian, Dr. Rolf Nischk, who assessed the falcon.
The agent on behalf of his client agreed to compensate for my time, effort, and expenses related to veterinary care and rations until its despatched. The falcon was only permitted a diet of racing pigeon breast meat, with no other meat allowed. Flying was strictly forbidden. I purchased racing pigeons from reputable pigeon breeders, had them slaughtered, and cleaned and fed them to the falcon, an exquisite hybrid.
On June 22, 2010, the falcon was cleared by the state vet at Elsenburg, Stellenbosch, where I transported the bird to Cape Town International Airport and placed it on an Emirates flight back to Dubai. Despite the compensation agreement, I was never reimbursed due to the non-return of telemetry transmitters that had been sent with the Falcon. The BFC member involved claimed the telemetry received never worked, but could not supply the damaged transmitters, resulting in a complete loss for me. This incident, once again, served as a lesson that to weary to be safe than sorry.
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