My Nonprofit Reviews

As someone who is a licensed falconer, has completed an internship at the World Bird Sanctuary in MO, has acquired a degree in a wildlife-related field, and has participated in various other related activities, such as raptor-related research, wildlife education volunteering and the like, it astounds me that the method of handling utilized and the lack of concern for the stress of the birds by WRA occurred for so long. For the birds' sake, I hope the newly implemented usage of leather falconry equipment (anklets, jesses, etc.) will provide the staff with better tools to address this issue, and that the educational birds will be able to be handled in a much safer, and less stressful manner.

Almost all facilities that utilize captive educational raptors in their programs maintain them on leather falconry equipment-- although the upper leg hold is a recognized safe way to temporarily hold birds of prey, (such as in the manner of trapping/banding for research or conducting a medical examination) this upper leg hold is NOT meant to be a long-term go-to, and certainly isn't as safe or comfortable for the birds as leather falconry equipment is.

From my experience, a bird would much prefer standing on its own feet as opposed to being held for long durations at the upper legs, and the videos that surfaced of WRA's programs unfortunately showcased the stress caused by the hold itself and the maneuvers the birds were put into ("zooming through the air" American Kestrel, etc.). These stress indicators include stress-chittering, flapping/wriggling, gaping mouth/panting, and the like. Leather straps do not indicate these birds are "pets," and all of the facilities I am familiar with have never had a problem when it came to explaining why these resident birds were being kept on leather falconry equipment; all it takes is a simple explanation to clear up any misunderstandings. How anyone can condone this form of long-term upper-leg hold handling that produces such stress on these program birds, when there's a safer, better alternative called falconry equipment, is beyond my comprehension.