A disturbing story recently came to my attention. 5 birds were seized by local police at the Nepal/India border, they were confiscated by officials but tragically all died that night. We don't know the full details so it's very difficult to say what they died of. I was sent pictures of the seized birds which are all clearly Saker Falcons. My guess is that they were being trafficked to the middle east for falconry purposes.
The pictures clearly show that these birds were alive at the time of the capture so to allow all these Falcons to die in police custody is simply unacceptable.
In light of this recent tragic event, The Parahawking Project/Himalayan Raptor Rescue have partnered with Friends of Nature a local NGO in Nepal to conduct a full research into the trafficking of Birds of Prey from Nepal. The research study was undertaken by Tulsi Subedi and is sanctioned by the Government of Nepal. The report forms a vital part of the mounting evidence for the need for a government sanctioned bird rehabilitation facility in Nepal of which there is currently none.
The full report can be read here: Download report