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Falcons that Sell
for More than Dh45,000

ABU DHABI — Falconry takes a central role at the Abu Dhabi International Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition (ADIHEX), with several falcon farms coming from well beyond the Arabian Gulf.

Herman Falcons is one such farm, which arrived here all the way from Austria.

“This is the second time, in fact, that we came to ADIHEX, the first time being in 2006,” said Hermann Mitterbauer, owner of Herman Falcons. He has fond memories of his first participation here, as one of his birds won the top prize in the falcon beauty show held annually at ADIHEX.

“Last year I couldn’t come simply because I sold all my falcons before the exhibition,” mentioned Hermann. He and his wife breed around 60-80 falcons every year and, not surprisingly, most of his customers are from the Gulf.

“Our falcons are very popular, not only because they are beautiful birds, but we also train them. It is much better to train them in Austria, because the weather is so much cooler in the summer, so their training is complete by October, when the hunting season starts,” explained Hermann.

Of the nine falcons he brought with him, six are already trained. “I expect to sell most of them to the Abu Dhabi Shaikhs before the end of the exhibition,” he added.

The starting price for these farm-bred falcons, which are a mix of gyr-saker and gyr-shaheen, is Dh45,000.

silvia@khaleejtimes.com