Wednesday, 08 September 2010 16:35
We are pleased to announce that we have teamed up with a company called
Himalayan Sky Safaris - not to be confused with our own Parahawking Sky Safari adventure - in order to promote their unique Paragliding holidays in northern India. Run by renowned Paraglider pilots, Eddie Colfox, John Silvester and Jim Mallinson, Himalayan Sky Safaris are offering a unique brand of aerial adventure in the high Indian Himalayas like no other.
The
Himalayan Sky Safari team have joined forces, using their decades of knowledge and experience and put together
2 five day Tandem Safaris that take you over snow capped mountains, hidden villages, remote temples and shepherd camps, giving you a unique glimpse of this fascinating region... and the best part is that you don't need to be a pilot to take part, you will be a passenger for the entire trip. They also do a
7 day Pilot Safari for the experienced pilots among you.
This remote region of India's high Himalayas is home to some of the biggest birds of prey in Asia including the Himalayan Griffon Vulture, Lammergier and even the mighty Golden Eagle.
What's in it for us? Well it seems that the guys at Himalayan Sky Safaris and myself are a like minded bunch, they want to do their bit to help protect Asia's vanishing vultures. They have agreed to donate 15% of the cost of each trip to Himalayan Raptor Rescue. This only applies to trips that we have had a hand in selling.
IMPORTANT!
Here's the important part - If want to take part in a trip of a lifetime and you want to help the Asia's Vultures, please ensure that when you contact Himalayan Sky Safari via this site, tell them where you heard about their company. This way 15% of the cost of the trip will go directly to Himalayan Raptor Rescue.
For more detailed information, go to -
www.himalayanskysafaris.com
Friday, 26 June 2009 11:37
After a month of hard graft, we finally finished the rehabilitation avairy. Thanks to all those that supported the project, it would not have been possible without your help. In fact we raised €875, which was just a little shy of our target but we dug deep and with a little help from donations made locally, we could finish the build just a little over budget.
The aviary is already full, housing 5 of our birds, 4 Black Kites and one Hodgsons Hawk Eagle. We are now on the look out for a our next piece of land where we can build our second rehab aviary. Special thanks to Anita, Graham and Al who helped with the manual labour.
Read more...
Friday, 26 June 2009 11:31
The day before leaving to go to India for a friends wedding, I spotted a young chap walking along the road carrying a juvenile Black Kite. The Bird was lying on the glove gasping for air, it was tied by one leg with a piece of rope to his glove and had cat bells on, attached with wire.
Immediately I was asked if I wanted to buy it for $100. Straight away I informed him that the trade of birds of prey was illegal and that he could face up to 2 years in prison. He panicked and released the bird, luckily I caught it before it could fly away with all of it's equipment still attached.
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Friday, 26 June 2009 11:30
In March, we received a call from a guy who claimed he had rescued two "Large Eagles" and could he bring them to the us. Of we never like to turn birds away and since Nepal is rich with Birds of prey, the prospect of rescueing a couple of "Large Eagles" is always quite exciting.
On arrival, and to our surprise, they were not Eagles at all but two young and very cute Brown Fish Owls. According the "rescuers" he had bought them from a guy who had taken the from the nest and would looking for some advice on how to keep them.
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Friday, 26 June 2009 11:29
In May 2009 we took the decision to release Holly back to the wild. It was always our intention to do so, we just had to make sure that her wing injury had repaired 100%.
We were hoping to get her flying with the gliders first but there simply wasn't the time in the end. However during her rehabilitation she had proved that her wing showed no sings of weakness and that she still possessed the necessary survival skills to make it in the wild. She would regularly fly off and catch fish from lake whilst being exercised out in the flying field.
We will keep a close eye on her over the coming months.
Good luck Holly!
Friday, 26 June 2009 11:22
Black Kites are the most common bird of prey in Nepal so it's no surprise that we get quite a few handed in to us. Over the years we have rescued more than 20 Black Kites. Some are brought in with minor injuries or illnesses. They may have eaten some poisoned food that was intended for something else, or suffered injuries at the hands of some local kids with catapults. Catapulting birds is the sport of choice here in Nepal, and no species is spared, if it's in range, it's a target.
Luckily we are able to release most of the Kites that we see, a few days in the recovery aviary with lots of food and water and they are good to go. Others need a little more time and may never be released.
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Friday, 26 June 2009 11:18
We rescued and released a young Egyptian Vulture earlier in the season. A fimiliar story, I am told of somebody that has an "Eagle", I immediately think it must be a Kite, Anything with claws and a hooked beak is an Eagle to the locals here. Most of the time birds are found not too far away, however this time it was a little closer to home.
I soon discovered that our next door neighbour had "rescued" this bird - that turned out to be an Egyptian Vulture - which he had chained to the corrugated roof of his house in the blazing heat. It soon transpired that he hadn't rescued it at all but bought it from someone else for 2000 rupees and now wanted me to pay him for it.
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Friday, 26 June 2009 11:11
Back in December we were handed an injured Steppe Eagle, I'm pretty sure that he was a young male bird, no more than 2 years old as he still had signs of his immature plumage. This beautiful bird had suffered a broken wing. We are not sure of the exact circumstances however it was handed to us by some local lads who suspiciously claimed they had found him in the woods. The injury was very characteristic of a stone or stick strike, the wound was fresh, like it had just happened, otherwise the bird was healthy, in perfect feather condition and well fed. Steppe Eagles are predatory raptors but they are also opportunists. In a heavily rural populated country such as Nepal where most people keep chickens, it's likely that this bird had seen a chance to grab an easy meal and was caught in the act.
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Friday, 26 June 2009 11:05
Thanks to all those that sent donations for the building of the new rehabilitaion aviary. We were originally looking to raise €1000, so far we have raised €873 and as you can see, building has begun. All materails have been purchased and we are now completing the remainder of the work ourselves. The costs are a little higher then we first estimated, so far we have spent €1100 and we esitimate that a further €100 will be needed to complete the aviary.
We were also hoping to have it completed by now but progress has been hampered by the continuing power cuts and pre-monsoon afternoon storms. However, with a few extra helping hands, we plan to be finished in less than a week.
You can still make a donation to help us reach our (new) target of €1200. Every contribution really helps no matter how big or small.
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Friday, 26 June 2009 11:00
We are currently looking for donations and sponsors to fund the building of a new rehabilitation aviary. This aviary will form part of a new project called the Raptor Rehoming scheme.
We are looking to raise €1000 initially to cover the cost of building materials. Every penny you contribute will make a huge difference to us so please help by making a small donation.
Read more...
News & Updates 
A story recently came to my attention that was quite disturbing. 5 'birds' were recently 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 is simply unacceptable.
