A rare falcon was auctioned for $72,000 in Saudi Arabia

The Middle Easterners are obsessed with falcons. Some ferry flights full of them, while others spend massive sums in getting their hands on one of the rare species. And in doing the latter, a unique breed of the winger wonder was auctioned in Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh for a cool $72,000. Yes, that’s right!

The said sale was held at the Saudi Falcons Club (SFC) in Malham, North of Riyadh, wherein the rare breed of the falcon (hailing from the Arady Farm in Saudi Arabia), considered to be the most expensive bred by Saudi breeders, was auctioned.

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Commenting on it, the Saudi Press Agency said, “The falcon, bred at Al-Aradi’s Farm in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, has seen intense competition at the occasion. It weighs 1,105 grams, is 17 and a half inches long, and 16 and three-quarters inches wide.”
The winning bid was placed by Saudi falconer Moteb Munir Al-Ayafi, who said that he’d name the falcon ‘Raghwan’. The gentleman also stated plans to participate in (Al-Mazayen competitions for local breeding), a pageant for falcons wherein the most beautiful falcon wins a prize of $ 79,993 in the future.

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Falcons are one of the symbols of the United Arab Emirates and hold immense significance amongst Middle Easterners. At the same time, hunting with falcons or falconry has also been an integral part of the kingdom and neighboring countries going back thousands of years.

Well, that explains the land’s obsession with the bird, after all!

[Via: Arab News]