A total of 48,213 houbara bustards have been hatched since the beginning of the year, the International Fund for Houbara Conservation (IFHC) has announced.

 

Mohammed Saleh Al Baidani, Director-General of the IFHC, said the production of such huge numbers of houbara bustards in captivity is part of the three-decade long effort to step up breeding of the birds.

 

This is another achievement for the IFHC which is trying to breed houbara bustards in captivity and reintroduce them to a number of countries around the world.

 

About 46,000 houbara bustards hatched in captivity last year. The IFHC has also stepped up efforts to breed new types of houbara including endangered species of Asian and North African houbara bustards. This breeding programme is taking places in four conservation centers in the UAE, Morocco and Kazakhstan.

 

 

PHOTO CREDIT: Christopher Pike / The National.