Georgia: Falconers Struggle to Keep a Traditional Sport Alive

Almost every day, Ramiz Beridze, a 78-year-old widower, climbs a hill in his native region of Achara, a Georgian province on the Black Sea, to set a net for birds of prey. Falconry is the only thing that he does and the only thing he enjoys. But Berdize's hobby -- a traditional sport across Georgia -- raises questions about Achara's status as one of the world's top sites for seasonal bird migration.

Georgian falconers often kill a captured raptor - usually sparrowhawks -- to feed the others that they use to hunt rabbits, pheasants and smaller birds. The law prohibits the practice, but falconers say that high meat prices leave them few alternative. Recent research claims that up to 3,000 birds die each fall in Achara from bird traps and hunting by falconers.

Once known as a nobleman's sport, falconry in today's Georgia lives on mostly among the poor. In Achara, also known as Ajara, it is a hobby that can trace its origin back some 2,000 years. Still, these days it is an endangered tradition.

In Achara, local falconers say that now barely 150 individuals in the whole region maintain the tradition. A century ago, entire clans and families - among them, Beridze's own family -- were known for their falconry skills.

Now, they rely on an annual festival to show off their skills and birds. The return from such events may be small, but for many Georgian falconers, who describe falconry as an addiction, these festivals are the only way to preserve the sport they love.