ULAN BATOR, Jun. 12, 2010 (Xinhua News Agency) -- Mongolia had set a quota of 240 saker falcons for export this year, Minister of Environment, Nature and Tourism L. Gansuh said Friday.
Speaking on a new hunting regulation at a press conference, the minister said foreigners would be allowed to hunt 240 of the most prized birds of prey, which cost 12,000 U.S. dollars each.
Mongolian officials said the export quota would not affect the size of the saker falcon population, given that an estimated four to six thousand saker falcons migrate to Mongolia each year.
The new regulation will have specific rules on the age and species of falcon that can be hunted. A unit of the Ministry of Environment, Nature and Tourism will supervise the hunting of falcons by foreigners.
The proceeds from the export of saker falcons will be used to build a road to a local province and protect Gobi bears.
Saker falcons are migratory birds of prey prized by falconers as they are ferocious and excellent hunters and well-adapted to desert climates. It is a raptor of open grasslands, preferably with trees or cliffs.
The Mongolian trade in saker falcons has existed since mid 1990s, but the country faced pressures to ban the trade as some international organizations categorized the bird as endangered due to a rapid population decline, particularly on central Asian breeding grounds.
