RIYADH, 18 October 2005 — Falconers who were looking forward to hunting houbara bustards are being advised to forget about it this year as the prey may be carrying deadly bird flu. The National Commission for Wildlife Conservation and Development (NCWCD) issued the advisory not to hunt the bustards during the three-month hunting season, which begins on Nov. 15.
Dr. Abdul Aziz Abuzinada, secretary-general of NCWCD, told Arab News that these migratory birds would come mainly from the affected parts of east Asia and could carry the bird flu virus without showing any apparent symptoms.
“Hunting here, in any case, is only allowed if the hunter uses a falcon rather than a gun. Even so, hunters should look out for any strange or unusual behavior by the bird. In such a case, they should immediately inform the NCWCD with details of the area where the bird was seen,” Abuzinada said.
He said the commission had been coordinating with the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs to monitor the situation. Experts have also been sent to places regularly visited by migratory birds, including Al-Hair, near Riyadh.
Elaborating on Dr. Abuzinada’s remarks, Dr. Hany Tatwany, director of Permits Department and adviser on International Relations at NCWCD, said an experts’ committee had been set up to deal with the threat by monitoring areas frequented by the birds and collecting samples for laboratory test. Pointing out that there was large-scale smuggling of wild birds and animals, he said they represented a real threat to human beings.
In a related development, the Ministry of Agriculture has announced emergency plans for combating bird flu with the participation of health, agriculture and municipal authorities as well as the private sector and universities.
Minister of Agriculture Dr. Fahd Balghunaim said in a statement that the plan is precautionary and includes banning poultry imports from affected countries in addition to conducting inspections of poultry farms and monitoring migrating birds. In the event that traces of bird flu are found on any of the farms, the farm will be isolated and quarantined.
