Aired (October 29, 2023): Join Doc Ferds Recio in the United Arab Emirates as he visits a specialized clinic for falcons. Watch this video.
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00:00 A Peregrine falcon is watching
00:05 Later, when it returns to its place
00:09 It beats a dead panicky
00:13 Today, we will get to know the animals of the hippopotamus
00:26 Raptors or birds of prey are called by some people
00:30 that eat living animals as prey
00:33 Their group is considered the strongest of all birds
00:39 They have superpowers that other birds don't have
00:43 As a group, they are the fastest bird in the world
00:50 The Peregrine falcon is the fastest
00:53 of all birds
00:55 They can fly at 300 km/h
01:01 I went to a nesting site of the Peregrine falcon
01:09 This is where I saw how fast these birds can fly
01:13 But on the other side, a young Peregrine falcon is getting used to it
01:22 It's time to meet the young ones
01:24 Right now, they're starting to discover their surroundings
01:31 They're starting to develop themselves
01:36 for their preparation for flying
01:38 We're seeing actually four young ones
01:42 and they're fledging already
01:44 The juvenile or young birds are called fledgling
01:49 The young birds are not fast
01:52 but they're slowly flying
01:56 Our companion said that when he first saw them here
02:00 they're still at a low level
02:02 but slowly they go up and up
02:04 and they're starting to spread their wings
02:06 So in a matter of probably days
02:09 maybe a little more than a week
02:11 they will start to fledge on their own
02:13 [Music]
02:24 But they need to rely on their parents
02:27 when it comes to food
02:29 [Music]
02:37 They hunt in mid-air
02:39 So the birds that fly are the ones they'll chase
02:42 and they'll hunt them
02:44 to eat them or feed them to their own kind
02:48 like what we're seeing now
02:49 Raptors like Peregrine falcon have sharp beaks or jaws
02:55 They use it to tear apart the prey
03:02 Raptors help in controlling the population of wild animals
03:10 but they also have a benefit for humans
03:14 In Mongolia, the president and partners of the Golden Eagle
03:24 hunt animals every winter
03:37 Animals go out in the cold
03:40 but because the eyes of the Golden Eagle are sharp
03:44 they can see them right away
03:46 Every day, Kazakhs climb the mountains
03:51 to get the young eagle in their nest
03:53 But before they become skilled in hunting
03:58 they need to get used to it
04:00 [Music]
04:09 When the target is torn apart
04:15 they'll use their speed
04:18 and sharp beaks to catch it
04:21 [Music]
04:28 Because of the help of the Golden Eagle
04:31 in the life of the Kazakhs
04:33 they consider it their family
04:35 [Music]
04:43 It's time to say goodbye to the parents
04:46 We finally got what we were looking for
04:52 the North Philippine Hawk Eagle
04:54 which is called Baguis
04:56 [Music]
04:59 Using its sharp beak
05:01 it tears apart the meat of an animal
05:04 [Music]
05:21 When it's full, it rests
05:23 [Music]
05:26 While resting, the one who gets it
05:29 is its caretaker, the Mboy
05:31 But before, Baguis relied on the Mboy to eat
05:35 Now Baguis is the one who usually
05:40 gets its food in the wild
05:42 There it is
05:47 There it is
05:48 Baguis will go around the forest
05:50 and pick the trees one by one
05:53 Why are you eating?
05:54 There
05:55 It's really looking for food
05:59 There it is
06:01 And when the prey is caught
06:03 There
06:04 It will bring it near its nest
06:07 and it will lay eggs there
06:08 There, there's Baguis
06:10 There, it caught something
06:12 from the tree
06:14 After hunting and feeding
06:19 it's time to take a bath
06:21 [Music]
06:23 Before, Baguis was bathed by the Mboy
06:26 Now, it can take a bath alone
06:30 When the eagles are able to stand on their own feet
06:34 this is where the real battle begins
06:37 But not everyone is successful
06:41 Like what happened to the three-year-old
06:45 Philippine Eagle, Pamana
06:48 It was found in the jungle
06:49 dead and with bullets in its chest
06:53 Last year
06:55 another Philippine Eagle was found dead
06:57 in the middle of the Sarangani Basin
06:59 According to the Philippine Eagle Foundation
07:03 the king bird drowned in the sea
07:05 but it was found with bullets in its body
07:08 The Philippine Eagle is usually shot
07:13 to catch and eat
07:16 Because of this, their species is critically endangered
07:20 In the Philippines
07:25 birds of prey like the eagle are killed
07:28 In Abu Dhabi
07:33 the Turing is a VIP to some of them
07:35 They breed and take care of the raptors
07:38 like the Peregrine Falcon
07:40 Falcons are important to the Emirati culture
07:44 and their animals
07:45 They helped them in finding food that day
07:51 Because of this, a specialized clinic was built for them
07:56 Dr. Mueller will show us
08:00 what they do for the physical examination of falcons
08:03 It is not allowed in UAE
08:08 to use any wild falcon for falconry
08:11 either to catch a wild falcon
08:13 or to use it for falconry or any other purpose
08:15 All falcons that you are seeing here
08:17 are coming from captive breeding centers
08:19 Like humans
08:21 the endoscopy is done on the falcons
08:23 for the examination
08:25 And now, we enter with the endoscope
08:30 If the falcon is healthy
08:32 it will be sent to the training
08:34 to hunt for food
08:37 [Music]
08:39 At present
08:47 there are 21 species of raptors or birds of prey
08:50 in the Philippines
08:51 But no matter how strong they are
08:56 they still have no match
08:58 to the people who are taking their homes
09:01 According to the Global Forest Watch
09:05 from 2001 to 2022
09:07 the tree cover loss in the Philippines
09:09 is almost 1.42 million hectares
09:11 89% of this loss is due to deforestation
09:16 or the lack of long-term cutting of trees
09:19 The birds of prey's body was designed
09:22 to do their job
09:24 to control the population of wild animals
09:27 But due to the lack of forest
09:32 the raptors are losing their food
09:36 The question is
09:38 how will they survive
09:40 in the next few years?
09:42 [Music]
09:48 [Music]
09:51 [Music]
09:53 [Music]
10:06 you