Saker falcons brought up at ASU rare birds nursery will be added to the population of the red book birds

Head of ASU Laboratory for Rare Birds Nursery Viktor N. Plotnikov said that North-Caucasian Center for Rare Animals and Birds Breeding “Filin” (“Eagle-Owl”), which worked in the field of Russia’s natural population recruitment, had bought several birds from them.

“Two saker falcon subspecies (Falco cherrug cherrug and Falco cherrug Milvipes) are distributed over Altai Krai. They are bred by our laboratory. Filin Center had already bought 10 saker falcons for Chita Oblast at the beginning of the year, and we have recently delivered 10 more birds to them for Falco cherrug Milvipes population recruitment in Transbaikal. The remarkable thing is that Milvipes has transverse feathering colour and adapts to severe environment conditions better,” explained Viktor N. Plotnikov.

Moreover, in the near future ASU Rare Birds Nursery is going to adopt 5 saker falcons that have been confiscated by Moscow customs officers from poachers. These birds were caught on the territory of Altai Krai and will soon return to their homeland. Falcons are currently being taken care of at one of the Moscow nurseries. On their being transported to Barnaul, they will be released by ASU specialists in accordance with permission of the Russian Federal Service for Supervision of Natural Resource Usage.