Dubai resident rescues falcon tangled in barbed wire fence

Jacob untangled the bird from the wire, checking for serious injuries, before placing it in a cardboard box.

A Dubai resident kept his good deed counter firmly ticking on Sunday when he stepped in and helped rescue a falcon in distress, after it got caught on a barbed wire fence near the airport.
Driving along the internal roads between Dafza and Airport Tunnel at around 11:00am, Indian resident Renji Mathews Jacob said he saw the trapped bird trying to free itself from the fence surrounding the Dubai International Airport (DXB).
"It was near Gate 7, well out of view from passersby, but luckily it caught my attention. Being the national bird of the UAE, I couldn't just leave it be, so I made it my mission to try and save it," Jacob, a civil engineer, told Khaleej Times.
With a long cord wrapped around its feet - impeding the bird's ability to move - Jacob said he could see it was really struggling and looked distressed.
"I'm not sure where it came from but there are villas close by, so maybe it was a domesticated bird that got free. It had identity tags on it, but did panic when I approached it."
With a Dubai Police checkpoint nearby, Jacob alerted the officers on duty, who came on the scene immediately. But due to the logistics of where the bird was trapped, it was hard to get close.
"The fence was high, about 3.5 metres, so it was difficult for anyone to help. I couldn't let it sit there and die though, so I got my pickup truck, parked it parallel along the fence and climbed up on the bonnet to get close to it. Luckily, I had a blade that I use for work in the car, so I managed to cut the wire loose and free the falcon."
Unable to fly away - either due to exhaustion or injury - Jacob managed to grab the bird, amid cheers from onlookers. "I'm an animal lover, that's why I stepped in. It is as simple as that. This bird is held in high esteem by people in the UAE, especially locals. It's a bird of pride. To see it there struggling, it raised a lot of eyebrows, so it felt good to get it safe again."
With the help of the officers, Jacob untangled the bird from the wire, checking for serious injuries, before placing it in a cardboard box.
"I then handed it over to the Dubai Police. They're now going to try and reunite the little guy with its owner using the identity tags. I hope it finds its way home, safely."
kelly@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai