Hassan Cheruppa Saudi Gazette An Indian academic who comes from a land with no falcons has dedicated his life to carrying out extensive studies and research on falcons and falconry. Zubair Medammal is the first and only Indian to obtain a doctorate degree in the study of falcons. The falconologist is currently in the Kingdom to shoot a documentary titled “Falcons and Falconry in the Arabian Gulf” in English, Arabic and Malayalam languages. “My team has already finished shooting of the 45-minute documentary segments in Oman and UAE. After finishing the shooting in the Kingdom, our team will move to Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain prior to its finishing work at Dubai Media City,” he told Saudi Gazette. Medammal unveiled plans to produce 100,000 DVDs of the documentary, which will then be distributed among educational institutions in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries as well as in India free of charge. “My mission is to bring the idea home that falcons and falconry are part of Arab culture and heritage, and make the younger generation aware of this,” he said. The documentary covers all relevant information about various species of this prized bird and their characteristic features as well as about falconry, with subtitles such as hunting, feeding, breeding, health and healthcare, roosting, moulting, pterylosis, vocalization, training and taming. Medammal made a sonogram of 15 different vocalizations of various species of the raptor. At a recent function in Jeddah, Saudi businessman Prince Faisal bin Musaed released a brochure on the documentary by giving a copy to Abdul Haq Thirurangadi. The enthusiastic falconologist is also looking for a publisher for his book titled “Biology and behavior of falcons” which portrays his hard and tedious six year research work on falcons. The book covers all aspects on falcons, with an emphasis on the breeding and healthcare of the peregrine/shaheen falcon. The book, in English and Arabic, is an important study material and could be introduced in the syllabus of schools, colleges and universities in the Middle East region, he said. Medammal's doctoral research topic was “Biology and behavior of falcons with emphasis on breeding and healthcare in captivity.” He obtained a doctorate degree from the University of Calicut in the southern Indian state of Kerala in 2004, where he is currently working as assistant professor of zoology and special officer at department of environmental sciences. His story is that of a job-hunting expatriate in the Gulf who later devoted his life to the study of falcons and obtained a doctorate and special degree in the discipline after having being denied a keeper's job at a falcon research center in the UAE. Medammal said: “After finishing my postgraduate degree from Farook College Calicut, I landed in UAE on a visit visa in 1995 in search of better career prospects. In spite of a frantic search, I didn't succeed in getting a job mainly because my specialty, wildlife biology, was not in demand.” “As I was traveling on Abu Dhabi – Al Ain Highway in UAE I spotted a signboard of Sheikh Zayed Falcon Research Hospital at Al-Khazna. When I approached the hospital administration and begged for a job saying that I was ready to work even as sweeper or keeper who cleans the cages of falcons, my request was turned down. In the meanwhile, I was very much fascinated by seeing different species of wonderful bird of prey and the methods of taming it at the center. On that day, I took a firm decision to devote my life to carry out extensive studies about falcons after taking the bitter experience at the center as a challenge,” he added. “Shouldering a Herculean task, I took at least eight visit visas, almost 800 days, for my studies by spending a huge amount of money. I had to sacrifice all my earnings for a period of six years. This was the way I took the challenge,” Medammal said. The hard-working falconologist received special training in artificial falcon-breeding from Stuttgart. “I took a challenge to do PFBT (practicum in falcon breeding and training) course from Germany itself to take a sweet revenge from a German doctor who drove me out of Sheikh Zayed Falcon Research Hospital when I approached it for a job.” Apart from the Gulf countries, Medammal also visited Germany, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Iran, besides spending months in Silent Valley hills along the Western Ghats in Kerala as part of his research work. “I was fully aware of the toughness of the mission that I had undertaken. Since falcons fly and live at great heights, it is very difficult to watch their movements and observe their behavior,” he said. The falcon has always been regarded as a very uncommon and shy bird, and it is very rarely observed by amateur birdwatchers. Falcons usually prey on small birds such as houbara, pigeon, and quail. Apart from hunting purposes, Medammal said, falcons could be used to drive away crows and other birds that disturb traffic as well as birds that pose a threat to passenger planes. Medammal urged the authorities in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states to take extra care while feeding falcons as many birds in countries in the region have died as a result of feeding on bird flu-affected food and preying on infected birds. “About one-third of falcons die due to preying on birds exposed to pesticides. The bird flu epidemic will add to the threat of extinction of falcons, a symbol of force and courage, he said. “It is the only bird which requires a passport to cross the border of a country, Medammal said, referring to the measures taken by some Gulf countries. “UAE started this system in 2002 to stop smuggling of falcons which have good market value.” Medammal is the first non-Arab to be granted membership in the Emirates Falconers Club. He was also honored with the Pravasi Award for outstanding research in foreign countries, presented by the government of Kerala, and India's National Award ‘JC International' as an outstanding young personality. A few months ago, he was assigned to investigate the reasons birds were hitting an Air India Airbus plane at Calicut airport. He discovered the cause of the mishap was the Palm civet, a nocturnal mammal. “Subsequently, I was appointed by the Airport Authority of India to study and suggest steps to avoid ‘bird hits' at the airport, and I have recommended high frequency ultrasonic sound generators as well as trained falcons to drive away birds.” Medammal can be contacted by email ([email protected]) or phone in the Kingdom (0590532008).
