Fri, Mar 25, 2022 page4

• Hospital in Doha only sees falcons

  • AP, DOHA
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  At first glance, the Souq Waqif clinic in the center of Doha could be any other state-of-the-art hospital.

  Nurses in blue scrubs move briskly through the bright wards, conducting rounds. Radiology and operating rooms whir with the beeps and blinks of monitors. Specialists squint at X-rays and masked doctors make incisions with all the high-tech tools of modern surgery on hand.

  There is just one thing: The rooms are filled with falcons.

  

  A falcon perches at the Souq Waqif clinic in Doha on Tuesday last week.

  Photo: AP

  In the tiny, wealthy emirate of Qatar, the desert birds are among the nation’s most pampered residents.

  Long revered across the Arabian Peninsula for their ferocity and hunting prowess, falcons today serve as sheikhly status symbols recalling a Bedouin past.

  The bond between falconers and their falcons has been an inspiration since the Paleolithic period, when drawings of the creatures first appeared on cave walls.

  Although less fashionable now than in the past, the art of falconry is still passed down from one generation to the next in Qatar and other oil-rich sheikhdoms of the Persian Gulf. With demand growing in the past few years, clubs that teach the sport have sprouted up across the region.

  Falcons compete in an increasing number of races and beauty contests.

  The finest falcons fetch at least a few thousand dollars and Qataris spare no expense to maintain their good health.

  “The establishment of the hospital was to support the hobby and heritage of raising falcons... It’s a pastime that stretches its veins into multiple generations,” Souq Waqif hospital director Ikdam al-Karkhi told reporters. “Keeping them alive and well is an essential duty.”

  Public hospitals such as Souq Waqif offer expert care to sick and wounded hawks, roughly 30,000 a year. The marbled reception area bustles with owners and handlers bringing their birds in for checkups, medical tests, feather replacements, orthopedic surgeries — and even something akin to mani-pedis.

  Falcon nail filing is a serious business, as birds transplanted from the desert to opulent homes in skyscraper-studded Doha or bred in captivity cannot easily find sharp surfaces on which to trim their talons.

  The falcon’s hunt might be a long-venerated tradition, but it is also grisly work.

  The cornered prey at times puts up a fight, clawing an attacking falcon and hobbling its wings. Each of a falcon’s feathers is vital to its flight, necessitating careful feather replacement after a scuffle.

  Doctors pull from a bank of shed feathers to find one that perfectly matches the wounded bird’s breed — plumage of the same pattern, length and color.

  “If these damaged feathers remain, it can cause loss or reduction of the bird’s fitness,” al-Karkhi said. “They must be treated.”

  Hospital surgeons treat other casualties of the hunt, too. Falcons’ beaks and talons sustain damage from all that swooping and plunging and gobbling.

  In the clinic waiting room, falcons perch regally on their owners’ gloved wrists. The Qatari men in their flowing white robes stroke their feathers and mist their beaks with water.

  “If a person is neglecting their bird, it’s a huge problem,” said Hamad al-Mehshadi, a falcon festival manager taking his raptor for a regular medical checkup. “When one holds onto their bird, it is something else. The love of the bird is extraordinary.”

  Souq Waqif still sees a steady stream of 150 falcons a day — a sign that the echoes of Qatar’s ancient past are not lost.

  “Even the look that a falcon and its owner share, it’s different than any other look,” al-Karkhi said. Falconers “feel the loyalty of this bird — a fierce warrior in the wild and yet a pet in my hand.”
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