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March Feature: Hawks
The residents of Cap Bon, on the north-eastern
tip of Tunisia, facing Sicily, are passionate about birds. But that
passion is now threatening some of the very species they prize
so highly, and efforts have begun to persuade the locals and
other Tunisians to change their ways.
This Mediterranean landscape of pine-clad hills, rolling dunes and
unspoilt coastline is the kingdom of the sparrow hawk, but that is
a bird handled with extreme care in Cap Bon, where falconry is
almost an art form.
Every year, between 15 March and 15 April, men leave work,
home, and families to occupy hillside hides where migrating
sparrow hawks are netted for training by falconers, to be used
mainly in hunting partridge. The activity is strictly controlled, with
permits required and a maximum haul of four hawks per person
per year.
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