IFHC sets new record, produces 13000 Asian Houbara bustards in 2012

posted on 09/09/2012: 957 views

The International Fund for Houbara Conservation ( (IFHC) has

announced that its two breeding centers in Abu Dhabi produced around 13,000 Asian Houbara bustard in Abu Dhabi in 2012, a new record number which takes the total number of the bird produced by the Fund's captive-breeding facilities since the launch of the breeding program in 1996 to more than 120,000 birds.

"Captive-breeding and releasing the Houbara bustard is part of the strategy put in place by President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan in continuation of the approach established by the late founding father Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan to restore sustainable wild populations of the Houbara bustard in the UAE," the Director General of IFHC Mohammed Saleh Al Baidani said in a press briefing on the sidelines of the Abu Dhabi International Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition (ADIHEX2012).

"During the current year, the Fund-bred population of the bird increased threefold and the number of Asian Houbara bustard produced only this year exceeds the total number of the birds bred by the Fund since 1996," he added.

The targeted number for the Fund's two breeding centers for 2012 is 9800 birds, Al-Baidani noted.

Established in 2006 by an Emiri Decree from His Highness Gen. Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces to oversee the conservation and restoration of the wild Houbara populations to numbers that will ensure its long-term preservation while maintaining a traditional pillar of Arabian heritage - Falconry.

The IFHC includes National Avian Research Centre (NARC) - Sweihan - UAE, Emirates Centre for Wildlife Propagation (ECWP) - Morocco, Sheikh Khalifa Houbara Breeding Centre-Kazakhstan and Sheikh Khalifa Houbara Breeding Centre (Abu Dhabi).

The International Fund for Houbara Conservation (IFHC) is a global organisation dedicated to the restoration and preservation of the Houbara bustard bird.

The Fund oversees an extensive network of affiliated global projects and is considered to be the leading authority on understanding and protecting these noble creatures, which are so significant to Arabian heritage and culture. – Emirates News Agency, WAM

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