Falcons get pedicure at Abu Dhabi hospital

Perched on their seats, they wait their turn. Their nails need to be trimmed and filed and their teeth and beaks need polishing. The beauticians are trained to deal with these clients who are of a different feather. They are falcons. The Falcon Hospital located near the Abu Dhabi International Airport offers grooming services to the UAE's national bird. "It is an artwork. We do cutting, filing, trimming, smoothening, massaging and all sorts of grooming for the falcons,” chief vet and director of the hospital Margit Gabriele Muller told XPRESS. One of the largest facilities of its kind in the world, the hospital which opened in 1999 offers boarding facilities and breeding programmes for falcons. The hospital attracts falcons from the UAE and Gulf countries. "Coping of nails and trimming of beaks should be done twice a year. The nails of falcons in captivity do not wear off naturally unlike those of wild falcons who sit on cliffs and catch preys,” said Muller who has worked with falcons for over 16 years. Overgrown nails can puncture the bird's foot soles and lead to severe infections while overgrown prevent them from opening their mouths wide enough. Muller said the staff at the hospital do 20 to 30 groomings daily. The hospital has an in-patient facility that can accommodate 250 falcons at a time. "Each pedicure session costs Dh50,” said Muller as a grey and brown spotted female Gyr, the largest in the falcon clan, was being readied for a makeover. An anaesthesia mask was put on the bird. As soon as it fell asleep, a team of doctors and technicians got on the job. Using a nail clip, they first cut the curvy part of the nails. The excess keratin deposit inside the nail is then shaved off using a carpenter's knife. Once the nail has been restored to its original shape, it is filed and smoothened with a small hand drill. "The only thing which we do not do is apply nail polish,” said Muller as he rubbed a special vitamin E cream into the bird's foot and nails. Next is the beak. The tips are smoothened and little hooks called teeth on both sides are worked on so they are even in shape and length. "The nails and beak are made blunt as the falcon is moulting – a process by which the birds change their feathers. When the bird is ready for falconry, we make it sharp again,” explained Muller. The procedure takes no more than 15 minutes. The patient is then wrapped in a white towel and put on a mat on the floor where it slowly wakes up and starts spreading its wings. Clients who want to stay after the treatment can use the Falcon Hotel, a short and long-term boarding facility. from Gulf News