A crowd of families with children, nature lovers and curious people gathered yesterday (Tuesday) at Chai Park in Kfar Saba in order to see something that doesn't happen much in animal corners – returning animals back to nature.
The many who arrived waited anxiously for the cages to be opened, in order to allow 15 young falcons to return to the wild of Israel and fly, for the first time in their lives, free in the sky. The candidates for release looked excited, bouncing and flying for long minutes around their cage.
When the moment of truth came and the small hatch of the cage opened, none of the falcons moved. The raptors look confused at the doorway, but stay where they are. The caregivers place a live mouse in the shape bin in order to stimulate them to approach and discover that nothing is stopping them from leaving the cage – but the falcons are theirs.
After about an hour, one of the falcons suddenly appeared at the hatch, looked at the mouse, which itself looked back with a look no less confused than that of the predator – which suddenly spread its wings and shot itself into the sky. There is something almost tearfully moving about seeing a bird fly into the sky for the first time in its life.
One of the chicks before liberation from Hai Park in Kfar Saba, photo: Yolanda Batash
Surprising encounters
The common falcon is one of the most common birds of prey in Israel. Falcons suffered greatly from poisoning by farmers in the 50s and 60s, and were even declared endangered. Since then, however, the use of anti-rodent poisons, their main food, has been almost completely discontinued, and their number has steadily increased over the years. Currently, falcons can be found nesting from north to south of the country, even in densely populated areas such as the centers of Israel's large cities, where falcons manage to nest, raise their young, and live alongside humans.
These birds of prey are considered excellent biological control agents that systematically eliminate populations of pests such as mice and rats, which cause damage and disease, but living in close proximity to humans creates many encounters between humans and falcon chicks, which sometimes fall out of the nest when they are small or during their first attempts to fly.
The falcons we met were released after completing a rehabilitation process, at the end of which they were found healthy and fit for wildlife. The rehabilitation of falcons is carried out as part of the acclimatization and release project of falcons in cooperation with the Ramat Gan Safari and the Nature and Parks Authority.
Ready to return to nature. Falcon chicks at Hai Park Kfar Saba, photo: Yolanda Batash
"At their own pace"
Safari Wildlife Hospital receives about 1,000 falcon chicks that fall from their nests each year. After the hospital staff treats them, feeds them and replaces their parents, and after the chicks have grown their layer of feathers, Hai Park, along with other places throughout the country, receives groups of falcons (about 20 individuals per cycle) and houses them in an enclosure specially prepared for sending them back to nature.
"We take care of the falcons' food for two weeks and make sure they can hunt independently," explained city park manager Moti Mori. "When the time comes, we open the shipping window and allow them to go free, at their own pace, while continuing to place food in the compound until they are fully independent. It's exciting every time when the moment comes and we release the falcons for free wildlife."
Rafi Sa'ar, mayor of Kfar Saba, concluded: "I am proud of the park employees, who, in cooperation with the Safari Animal Hospital and the Nature Authority in the Parks, rescue many falcons that have fallen from their nests every year and return them to nature safe and sound."
Already independent. A falcon chick set free, Photo: Yolanda Betash
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