War waged on falcon thieves

Press, 2 July 1985, Page 4

War waged on falcon thieves

By THORSTEINN THORARENSEN of Reuters through NZPA Reykjavik Iceland’s police and customs officers are waging war on thieves who plunder the nests of the Icelandic falcon, the country’s national symbol. A West German was arrested this month on charges of attempting to smuggle three four-day-old falcons out of Iceland.

Suspicions are growing that an organised gang is running a lucrative international trade in the protected birds.

“We are nearly certain that there is an organisation behind this and we are trying to get to the heart of it,” said the chief of Ice-

land’s detective squad, Mr Hallvardur Einvardsson. Several smugglers have been caught since a crackdown last year on thefts of eggs and young birds. All were West Germans. The chief ornithologist, Mr Aevar Petersen, says West Germany seems to have become the centre of illegal falcon trading. The birds generally end up in the hands of wealthy buyers in areas such as the Middle East or India, where the ancient sport of falconry is still popular. Mr Petersen said devotees pay many thousands of dollars for a trained Icelandic falcon, the strongest of the species. The bird is in no immediate danger of extinction, with some 200 nesting pairs known to live on

the island, he said. But the thefts are seen as an affront to Icelandic pride. “We regard egg stealing from the falcon as a crime on a par with drug trafficking, forging money, and arms smuggling,” said a farmer in an area noted for its falcons. The falcon has been revered in Iceland since the Middle Ages, when it was a key export article of considerable importance for trade. The Kings of Denmark claimed a Royal monopoly on falcon trading when they added Iceland to their domain and records show that Louis XIV of France was presented with a gift of 20 Icelandic falcons in 1694.

Today, the country’s highest presidential award

is the Order of the Falcon. Legal trade is no longer permitted and it is forbidden to go within 500 metres of a falcon’s nest. Convicted thieves face a maximum sentence of a year’s jail plus a fine of one million crowns ($55,750). Penalties actually imposed have been much less severe and the ornithologist, Mr Petersen, fears the trade is still in full swing, with many thieves slipping through undetected. The illegal enterprise appears well funded, with thieves hiring expensive Range Rovers to cover the wild Icelandic terrain in pursuit of their quarry. They also seem to have local help in finding nests. Police have promised to

end falcon trading this year but Mr Einvardsson says this will not be easy, as many thieves enter the country under false names or arrive illegally in trawlers or in light aircraft. Mr Jon Sigurdsson, a financier, suggests a different approach. “Iceland should, as in the Middle Ages, make the trade legal and systematic,” he says. “We could breed them, train them, and sell them at high prices. “As in old times, they would give the country precious foreign currency and improve the trade balance. The sinister criminality that brings shame on our glorious national bird would then automatically be wiped out.”