At World of Wings, we are committed to both conservation and education about birds of prey from around the world. In recent decades, with man-made pressures from habitat destruction, the use of pesticides and livestock medication as well as creeping climate change, many species of birds of prey are under terrible pressure.
In particular, the Lugger falcon is a species that has suffered dramatic falls in its population in its native habitat. This medium-sized falcon was once relatively common in Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq and Pakistan, but circumstances have combined and led to a terrible drop in its breeding numbers. To that end, with the intention of conserving this beautiful falcon, World of Wings is part of a Europe-wide ‘Project Lugger.’
Project Lugger was set up in 2017 by English falconer and breeder Bob Dalton with the aim of building up a diverse gene pool through selective breeding programmes in Europe and the UK. By doing this, a healthy and sustainable ‘safety net’ population of Lugger falcons will be created prior to their re-introduction to the wild in specific locations in Pakistan.
World of Wings is proud to be part of that programme and we hope our young (and as yet sexually immature) pair of Luggers will soon produce offspring that will, one day, grace the skies of their native lands.