Woman detained at Moscow airport after 8 live, rare falcons were found in luggage

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Woman detained after falcons found in luggage

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/11/22/report-woman-detained-after-falcons-found-in-luggage/?hpt=Sbin



The eight gyrfalcons were swaddled in pillow cases and other cloth when customs officials discovered them at Moscow's Sheremetyevo International Airport.

Customs officials seized eight rare falcons at the Moscow airport after a woman tried to smuggle the wrapped, boxed birds out of the country, the International Fund for Animal Welfare reported.

The gyrfalcons were found in two cartons being loaded into the hold of a plane bound for Damascus, Syria, on Sunday, the group said. The woman who checked the cartons as her luggage was detained and released pending a court appearance.

“At least 100 wild gyrfalcons are smuggled out of Russia each year, primarily driven by demand from the growing popularity of falconry in the Middle East,” said IFAW’s Russia director, Masha Vorontsova, in a statement.

The fast and powerful predator is the world's largest falcon. It breeds in arctic and subarctic regions and preys primarily on large birds, according to the Cornell University Lab of Ornithology.

[XemaSab]

1. .

:(

[jwirr]

2. Falconry fascinates me but I do think it is wrong to imprison these

beautiful birds. I read about it.