Quality
tourism development
and exclusive attraction
in Biak Numfor District of Irian Jaya
PROGRESS
REPORT
"BIAK FALCONRY AND RAPTOR CONSERVATION CENTER"
"Yayasan
Peduli Satwa Lestari"
a join venture with the
Biak Numfor Tourism Services
TECHNICAL
ASPECTS
(Translated from Indonesian)
Unique
collection of Birds of Prey
Staff: discovering and training
Premises and equipment
Live food production
Aviaries, pens, perches
Avian medicine
Hawk training gear
Bag game production
Adapted technologies
Maintaining Birds of Prey
Manning and training
Breeding
Supporting
conservation
Permits
Tourism
A
new, exclusive tourism attraction
Hunting grounds
Blending falconry packages
International promotion
Progress
table
Conclusions and advice
November
2000
1
A representative and outstanding collection of Birds of Prey.
1.1
Background
From
a pure tourism development viewpoint, a rich, exclusive collection of impressing
birds is a major incentive for western Falconers to visit a remote area as Biak
obviously is. An international class Falconry Center should therefore maintain
well-trained, fit, powerful, and mostly large birds belonging to a wide range of
species, and as far as possible, new to Falconry.
|
Table
1: Ranking of main Raptors groups as
commonly
trained by Falconers worldwide
|
|
1
|
XXXXX
|
Goshawks (shortwings) (Fam. Accipiteridae, Gen. Accipiter)
|
|
2
|
XXXX
|
Falcons (longwings) (Fam. Falconidae, Gen. Falco)
|
|
3
|
XXX
|
Hawk-Eagles (Fam. Accipiteridae, Gen. Spizaetus)
|
|
4
|
XX
|
Eagles (Fam. Accipiteridae, Gen. Aquila)
|
|
5
|
XX
|
Others - (groups of species rarely used for hunting: Snake-Eagles, Sea
Eagles, Buzzard…) (Fam. Accipiteridae)
|
1.2
BFC work schedule
1.
The Goshawks:
Fourteen Goshawk species are found in Indonesia and as much as eight species in
Irian Jaya only, which is the world's highest number of species found in a
single area. Meyer's and Doria Goshawks, both swift and powerful hunters, are
the most potential species for Falconry among all these very attractive small to
medium-sized Raptors. Captive Goshawks are rather sensitive birds needing very
attentive cares and a tight training schedule to hunt attractively. For these
reasons, this group is not a first priority material for a new, developing
Falconry project like the BFC.
2.
The Falcons:
Large Falcons are mostly found in temperate to cold countries, whereas tropical
species are mostly small to medium-size birds. Nine species live in Indonesia,
mostly Kestrels and the tiny Falconets; these small birds can hardly be
considered for hunting. Up to now, the BFC does not maintain Falcons. However,
the popular, cosmopolitan Falco peregrinus (the "Peregrine") also
lives in Biak. The unusually large size of this oriental sub-species could well
make it quite attractive, and if possibilities arise, the Center could consider
maintaining one pair for hunting or breeding.
3.
The Hawk-Eagles:
With eleven species, Indonesia is the richest part of the world regarding
Hawk-Eagles (Spizaetus and allied). Yet, western Falconers have obtained very
few specimens so far, mostly during the sixties. Once trained, all of them
proved to be extremely good falconry birds due to their large size, strength,
courage and flying abilities. Steady birds, Hawk-Eagles do not call for
sophisticated cares. Once manned and trained, they keep tame and used to humans
for a very long time.
|
Table
2: Indonesian Hawk-Eagle and Eagles
|
|
Family
|
Genus
|
Species
|
Common
name
|
Distribution
|
|
Accipiteridae
|
Ictinaetus
|
malayensis
|
Black Eagle
|
|
W. Indonesia
|
|
Hieraaetus
|
kienerii
|
Rufous-Bellied Hawk-Eagle
|
|
W. Indonesia
|
|
morphnoides
|
Little Eagle
|
IrJa
|
Maluku
|
|
bonelli
|
Bonelli Eagle
|
|
W. Indonesia
|
|
pennatus
|
Booted Eagle
|
|
W. Indonesia
|
|
Spizaetus
|
bartelsi
|
Javan
Hawk-Eagle
|
|
W. Indonesia
|
|
alboniger
|
Blyth’s Hawk-Eagle
|
|
W. Indonesia
|
|
nanus
|
Wallace Hawk-Eagle
|
|
W. Indonesia
|
|
lanceolatus
|
Celebean Hawk-Eagle
|
|
W. Indonesia
|
|
cirrhatus
|
Changeable Hawk-Eagle
|
|
W. Indonesia
|
|
nipalensis
|
Hogdson Hawk-Eagle
|
|
W. Indonesia
|
|
Aquila
|
audax
|
Wedge-Tailed Eagle
|
IrJa
|
|
|
clanga
|
Spotted Eagle
|
|
W. Indonesia
|
|
gurneyi
|
Gurney’s Eagle
|
IrJa
|
W. Indonesia
|
|
Harpyopsis
|
novaeguineae
|
New-Guinea Harpy-Eagle
|
IrJa
|
|
As
legally importing wild specimens in the West is now quite difficult,
Hawk-Eagles are rare and extremely sought after in Falconry circles. This
group therefore offers a very good opportunity to the BFC to develop
international class, highly attractive Falconry activities in Biak.
Since
December 2000, the BFC has obtained eighteen Hawk-Eagle specimens in six species
-
Spizaetus cirrhatus (Changeable Hawk-Eagle) - 6 birds
- Spizaetus nanus (Wallace Hawk-Eagle) - 1 bird
- Spizaetus bartelsi (Javan Hawk-Eagle) - 1bird
- Spizaetus lanceolatus (Celebean Hawk-Eagle) - 1 bird
- Spizaetus (Ictinaetus) malayensis (Black Eagle) - 6 birds
- Spizaetus (Hieraaetus) pennatus (Booted Eagle) - 3 birds
To-date,
the BFC already houses the world's richest and largest Hawk-Eagle collection.
Yet, it must be reminded that three of these species are represented by one
single specimen only, and that more birds should be obtained in order to compose
breeding pairs.
4.
The Eagles:
Eagles (Aquila) are also a very popular group among western Falconers,
especially the Golden Eagle Aquila chrysaetos. However, these species are still
poorly represented due to the limited numbers of bred specimens available so
far. Irian Jaya offers a very interesting potential with three local species,
namely Aquila gurneyi, Aquila audax
and Harpyopsis novaguineae. Up to now, the BFC has obtained one single immature
specimen of Aquila gurneyi (Gurney's Eagle) only, trapped in Biak, and we should
rapidly gather more young birds, remembering that the local population is quite
steady and training rather long.
5.
Other groups:
The remaining Raptor species are as a rule less suited for hunting, but many
remain quite attractive, impressing birds, or are fast and productive breeders.
The BFC has selected two specimens of the large White-Bellied Sea Eagle as
demonstration birds, whereas several pairs of the common Brahminy Kite and
Snake-Eagle were chosen to boost a successful breeding program.
|
Table
3: Suitability of each Raptor species group at BFC
|
|
Species
group
|
Popularity
|
Demand
|
BFC
opportunity
|
Realization
|
|
Goshawks
|
XXXX
|
XX
|
XXXXXX
|
0
|
|
Falcons
|
XXX
|
X
|
X
|
0
|
|
Hawk-Eagle
|
X
|
XXXXX
|
XXXXXX
|
XXXXX
|
|
Eagles
|
XX
|
XXXXX
|
XXXXX
|
XX
|
|
Other groups
|
XX
|
XX
|
XX
|
X
|
|
Table
4: Development of the BFC birds collection
|
|
Species
group
|
Family
|
Genus
|
Species
|
English
name
|
|
Stock
|
Target
|
|
Goshawks
|
Accipiteridae
|
Accipiter
|
trivirgatus
|
Crested Goshawk
|
|
1
|
4
|
|
soloensis
|
Chinese Goshawk
|
IrJa
|
0
|
4
|
|
badius
|
Shikra
|
|
0
|
0
|
|
poliocephalus
|
Grey-Headed Goshawk
|
IrJa
|
0
|
4
|
|
novaehollandiae
|
White Goshawk
|
IrJa
|
0
|
4
|
|
melanochlamys
|
Alap-2 Punggung Hitam
|
IrJa
|
0
|
0
|
|
meyerianus
|
Meyer’s Goshawk
|
IrJa
|
0
|
4
|
|
buergersi
|
-
|
IrJa
|
0
|
0
|
|
cirrhocephalus
|
-
|
IrJa
|
1
|
3
|
|
fasciatus
|
-
|
IrJa
|
0
|
0
|
|
Megatriorchis
|
doriae
|
-
|
IrJa
|
0
|
4
|
|
Falcons
|
Falconidae
|
Falco
|
moluccensis
|
Oriental
Kestrel
|
|
0
|
0
|
|
peregrinus
|
Peregrine
Falcon
|
|
0
|
2
|
|
cenchroides
|
Alap-2
Irian
|
|
0
|
0
|
|
Hawk-Eagle
|
Accipiteridae
|
Ictinaetus
|
malayensis
|
Black
Eagle
|
|
6
|
0
|
|
Hieraaetus
|
kenerii
|
Rufous-Bellied H-Eagle
|
|
0
|
4
|
|
morphnoides
|
Little Eagle
|
IrJa
|
0
|
4
|
|
pennatus
|
Booted Eagle
|
|
3
|
1
|
|
Spizaetus
|
bartelsi
|
Javan Hawk-Eagle
|
|
1
|
5
|
|
alboniger
|
Blyth’s Hawk-Eagle
|
|
0
|
4
|
|
nanus
|
Wallace Hawk-Eagle
|
|
1
|
3
|
|
lanceolatus
|
Celebean Hawk-Eagle
|
|
1
|
3
|
|
cirrhatus
|
Changeable Hawk-Eagle
|
|
6
|
0
|
|
nipalensis
|
Hogdson Hawk-Eagle
|
|
0
|
2
|
|
Eagles
|
Accipiteridae
|
Aquila
|
|