The International Fund for Houbara Conservation (IFHC) celebrated the 44th UAE National Day by releasing 44 houbara bustards into the wild.

All birds were tagged with rings in the UAE national colours a mark that protected them from capturing and hunting before being set free in desert areas of the country. The exact locations are being kept secret by IFHC in order to keep the birds safe from potential hunters.

"The Houbara bustard is intrinsic to our cultural heritage owing to its inseparability from falconry an ancient art form that has been practiced by our ancestors for thousands of years" said Mohammed Al Baidani director general of IFHC.

"On National Day let us come together to celebrate our heritage from our national treasures to our conservation legacy and much more passed on to us by our founding father" he added.

Established two decades ago in a desert location in Swaihan (Eastern region of Abu Dhabi emirate) IFHC's mission was to help raise the declining population of houbara bustards by raising awareness of the species' troubles particularly among falconers and by breeding the birds in captivity.

The centre started with just a few birds received from Al Ain Zoo and it grew over the years to three more centres in Morocco Kazakhstan and Abu Dhabi. Since the breeding programme began in 1996 as many as 254451 houbaras were born in captivity in these centres many of them making it to life in the wild.

According to Al Baidani this year alone IFHC bred a total of 48213 houbaras a bigger number than last year's 46000 chicks.

Of them 23347 were bred in the Moroccan centre all African houbaras bigger in size and darker in colour than the Asian houbara found in the Arabian Gulf. In the Kazakh centre 1816 Asian houbaras were born while the two UAE centres bred 12551 Asian houbaras in Swaihan and 10499 Asian houbaras in the Abu Dhabi centre.

Houbara captive breeding is at the heart of IFHC's conservation programme along with the Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed Houbara Reintroduction Project where the IFHC's captive bred houbaras are released into the wild across its natural range. So far this year nearly 6000 houbaras were released mostly in Kazakhstan and Pakistan and in UAE Bahrain and Jordan.

A threatened species due to urban development and excessive hunting the houbara population is gradually improving especially due to international conservation efforts.

"To be honest falcons don't usually prey on houbaras in the wild preferring smaller catch like rabbits hare or rodents but falconers train their birds of prey to catch houbara as this is a big meaty bird" pointed out Rashed Al Shamsi an Emirati falconer.

"Falconry will always be part of our heritage; it is not just about hunting it is our way of life but in this day and age falconry must go hand in hand with environmental conservation" he also stressed.

Half a century ago houbara bustards were abundant in the Emirates as they travel here from as far as Central Asia Pakistan or Iran for the winter season but over the years the numbers of both houbara bustards and falcons began to drop fast.

Silvia Radan I'm a senior journalist with 22 years experience in all forms of mass media. Originally from Romania I lived and work in Bosnia Uzbekistan England and for the past 10 years in UAE. I specialize in art culture traditions heritage but also environment and the hospitality industry. I'm passionate about jazz and world music cinema mythology and offroading - I'm a marshal with one of UAE's offroading clubs!