Emirates Falconers' Club opens its doors to kids at ADIHEX

Organized by the Emirates Falconers' Club (EFC) and Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH), the exhibition will open everyday from 11 am - 10 pm.

The Emirates Falconers' Club stand, promoting the theme "Preserving Tradition..Ensuring the Future," will be welcoming children of all ages to its unique Kids' Corner. The Kids' Corner will be open 11 am - 2 pm and 4 pm - 8 pm, excepted for Friday October 10th it will open from 4 - 8 pm. Children will be able to learn about the endangered Houbara Bustard through animated characters such as Habbour bin Houbara. The Houbara bustard is the traditional quarry of Arab falconers. Children will also be able to learn about the important values of patience and teamwork that are associated with Falconry through another animated character Hamad the Young Falconer. The Kids' Corner will offer a space for them to show off their artistic talents, play puzzles and participate in quizzes.

H.E Majid Al Mansouri, Executive Director of Emirates Falconers' Club, said:

"Through this Kids' Corner, we want our younger generation to learn about the values associated with falconry. We want to introduce them to the concept of Sustainable Falconry from an early age and instill in them the value of conservation."

The Houbara Foundation International-Pakistan, which was established by Abu Dhabi Government, will be exhibiting as well. The Foundation is working to protect the Asiatic houbara whose wild population is crashing sharply due to over-hunting and smuggling. So far, more than 40 tagged Asiatic houbara, which were captive-bred at Abu Dhabi's National Avian Research Center, have been released into the Pakistani wild.

Also participating again this year is the Emirates Center for Wildlife Propagation (ECWP) based in Missour, Morocco. Since its establishment by the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, this Center has produced around 27,000 houbara and released more than 17,000 into the wild in Morocco.

The Sweihan-based National Avian Research Center (NARC) will be present and will help raise the awareness of falconers on how the houbara is threatened by detrimental factors including excessive over-hunting and habitat loss.

The Abu Dhabi Falcon Hospital, which is open to all kids of birds for treatment and laboratory services, will also be present at ADIHEX showcasing its services.