Falco 27 - International Wildlife Consultants Ltd.

dealers, places associated with dealers, transactions, etc.,final destinations and markets, prices paid (poacher tofinal consumer) and individuals known to be involved.On Wednesday, participants collated information fromprevious days and prepare summaries of each of theeight subject areas. They will also discuss how thisinformation can best be disseminated and used to aidnational law enforcement, target those involved, combatillegal harvest of falcons, increase border controls andcombat smuggling, combat illegal trade (in countries oforigin, transit and destination) Draft relevant Alert orother bulletin prepared where distribution and recipientswill be agreed. They will also discuss whether there ispotential to conduct immediate follow-up on any of theseizures or cases and decide how this can be achieved,in addition they will review draft identification materialprepared by Canadian Wildlife Service.Strategy for future exchanges of information,cooperation and coordination of investigations alsodisused and focal points for countries/agencies and bestmeans of communication will be agreed. They will alsodecide upon role of other relevant organizations andnon-governmental organizations. Finally, participantsalso identified any further actions that require to betaken to improve implementation of the Conventionregarding the trade in falcons for falconry and ineliminating illicit trade in these speciesAvian influenza in falcons: Saudi ArabiaInformation from a ProMED-mail posthttp://www.promedmail.org.ProMED-mail is a program of the International Society forInfectious Diseases http://www.isid.org.This information provides the background to thedecision of the Saudi authorities to carry out tests inthe involved falcon centre in Riyadh and, subsequentto obtaining several positive H5 results, to cull (all?)37 falcons therein.These unofficial but reliable data should be brought tothe attention of all those involved in the maintenance,handling and healthcare of falcons and other captive birdsin the Middle East and elsewhere. Hopefully, it will helpin enhancing the alertness of authorities responsible forcontrol upon international trade in avian species, withspecial attention to captive birds. Earlier H5N1incidents related to such trade have been recorded inTaiwan, Belgium, the UK and probably elsewhere.Saker Falcon in Southeast Europe: Researchand Conservation.A workshop meeting in Sofia, Bulgaria from 27th to28th February 2006.A workshop meeting hosted by the Central Laboratoryof General Ecology, Bulgarian Academy of Scienceswas attended by delegates from several countries insoutheast Europe (including Croatia, Macedonia,Bulgaria, Moldova, Romania, Ukraine and Turkey).The meeting was funded by the EAD as part of aproject to survey Saker Falcons in Bulgaria (see p. 4 ofthis issue for more detalis).One of the intended outcomes of this meeting was todevelop co-operation and greater understanding amongresearchers studying Saker Falcons both in Europeand elsewhere. To further this objective a web forumis to be established in order to develop a network ofresearchers across the region of SE Europe, which willenable the co-ordination of studies and better promotefunding opportunities for Saker studies.The 1st confirmed case of avian influenza subtypeH5N1 in Saudi Arabia (earlier than January 2006,probably in December 2005) involved a Saker Falcon(Falco cherrug) that had been in the country for the pasttwo years. It had a history of anorexia, for two days,and passing green faeces. The falcon died overnight. Afew days later, it was confirmed that the falcon had diedof avian influenza and had tested positive for H5N1.The virus might have been introduced from illegallyimported falcons from China and Mongolia early in theseason. The authorities were updated at a later date.23