Gyrfalcon sent to fight for its life in Kuujjuaq

PATRICIA D’SOUZA

Of seven falcon eggs confiscated from poachers in May, only one chick has hatched and survived. And that chick has a less-than-40-per-cent chance of survival when it is returned to the wild later this week, the Montreal veterinarian in charge of its care said.

Two men masquerading as nature photographers were caught in Kuujjuaq in early May with a cache of falcon eggs worth thousands of dollars on the international black market.

The men, one from South Africa and the other from Britain, were charged with six counts of illegal possession of eggs, and hunting without a licence. They were fined $7,250, the maximum permitted by Quebec’s wildlife legislation.

Their actions may have significantly reduced the falcon population in Nunavik. And Nunavik’s hurry to have the sole remaining gyrfalcon returned to the region may hasten its death as well.

“We’ve been sort of forced to send the bird up north,” said Guy Fitzgerald, a wildlife veterinarian with the Université de Montréal. “The chances are very small the bird will survive the process.”

The eggs were sent to Montreal because they were needed as evidence in the case against the two poachers. They were placed in Fitzgerald’s care and hatched at Montreal’s Biodome.

Fitzgerald said they would have had a greater chance of survival if they had been returned to their nest after they were seized. But, he said, their ordeal would only be prolonged by sending them back to Nunavik after almost two months in the south.

He said wildlife technicians at Makivik Corporation insisted the protected species be returned. Peter May, a wildlife technician with Makivik Corporation, did not respond to telephone calls.

Life is harsh

Only two of the eggs hatched. Fitzgerald said that as the poachers were being arrested, they turned up the heat in the incubator holding the eggs. The heat may have damaged the eggs and prevented them from hatching.

Fitzgerald took the two remaining chicks to the university’s raptor centre, which rehabilitates injured birds of prey. He placed them in an outdoor aviary with adult gyrfalcons, “It’s important for a bird to be with its species,” he said.

But the heat wave that swept through southern Canada this summer took its toll on the birds. “In the afternoon, I came back to feed them and one was dead,” he said. “It may have died of heat stroke. Their down feathers are not well equipped to regulate temperature.”

Fitzgerald agreed to send the sole remaining gyrfalcon back to Kuujjuaq when the bird was old enough to be returned to the wild. “It has to be done at 40 days,” he said. “We’re trying to set up transport by the end of the week.”

In Kuujjuaq, the chick will be placed in a hacking box, a sort of cage, Fitzgerald explained. The bird must stay in the box for seven to 10 days.

After the introductory period, the front of the box is opened to allow the bird to come and go. This gives the bird the freedom to learn about its environment, and the security of shelter and food if it runs into trouble in the wild. It may play around the box for about a month, Fitzgerald said.

“Sixty per cent [of birds in the wild] die in the first year. Life is very harsh for them. They have to kill to survive,” he said.

However, the hacking box technique is generally used with several birds at a time. “It will interact with birds of other species and it will learn life,” Fitzgerald said. The technique is risky even with two birds. With one, the chances of success are slim.

“I’m not convinced it’s the best way to do it,” he said.

Fitzgerald said the university considered keeping the falcon as an educational bird. “It can be an ambassador, helping other birds of its species,” he said. “It may live 15 to 20 years in captivity.”

But Makivik rejected this idea. “We had it in our head up here that we were going to get them back here no matter what,” May told the National Post. “I didn’t want to change my mind.”

Fitzgerald maintains hope that the gyrfalcon will survive. “The bird may be a fighter, and then it has a chance.”