A screen grab from a Reuters video shows falcon owners registering their birds for an ID at Souq Waqif Falcon Hospital.
Doha: The Souq Waqif Falcon Hospital (SWFH) treats up to 150 falcons a day during its peak season from September to March.
In a tweet yesterday, Reuters previewed the hospital, its services, a quick clip of a falcon undergoing an operation and an interview with a falconer.
“The hospital does provide us with very good services, and it has experience through the veterinarians in general and the ones specialised in falcon treatments. As a centre, they focus on falcons because it is a widely practiced hobby in the Arab world,” said Ali Al Marri, the falconer.
According to information available on the hospital's website, the hospital provides a range of services from surgery to issuing IDs and passports for the birds.
In total, there are 13 departments in SWFH which include hospitalisation, main clinic (endoscopy, x-ray equipment, and preliminary laboratory), ID room (falcon rings and ID), operating theatres for major surgery, molecular biology, and clinical pathology.
The hospital also has virology, tissue, and immunology, histopathology, pharmacology and toxicology, necropsy or autopsy, feather imping and cosmetics – feather transplant and repair, beak and talon cosmetics, microbiology, and quarantine.
The hospitalisation area can hold over 30 falcons at a time. According to SWFH, it hospitalises a falcon “for further investigations” and when a falcon is on post surgery for rehabilitation.
The area has also been installed with a radiographic facility.
“The x-ray unit is interfaced with the main clinical x-ray display monitor in the main clinic so that the owners of the falcons can see the radiographs and interact with the clinicians to monitor their falcon’s clinical conditions, treatment plan and after care without going in to the hospitalisation section,” it explained.
The ID room meanwhile facilitates the microchips, falcon leg rings and identification cards. The ID contains the owner’s name, telephone number, species, microchip number and vaccination details.
In Qatar, it is essential to have an ID card from SWFH to acquire a falcon passport from the Ministry of Municipality in order to travel with the bird.
The video added: “Falconry is a popular sport and hobby for many Qataris. It was added to Unesco’s 2021 representative list of the ‘intangible cultural heritage of humanity’.”
Falcon is the national bird of Qatar.
The country has dedicated a festival specifically for this called Marmi Festival, which was held in December 2021. There is also a souq solely for falcons and falconry, called Falcon Souq, located at Souq Waqif.
Qatar International Falcons and Hunting Festival, popularly known as Marmi, is one of the largest festivals in the specialised field of falcons and hunting in the region. It is considered one of the important features of the original Qatari culture and presents various aspects of tradition and heritage, with the aim of reviving them among the new generations.
