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Kevin & Bob
"You've got to remember that we were carrying two Egyptian vultures, up this mountain. These are birds that since the start of their life have been trained to fly with the paragliders every day, every single day they go out and fly..."

"...It's testament to their phlegmatic characters, they are happy to be in our environment, but the payoff is that we're going to be in their environment... and I think Egyptian Vultures, certainly Kevin and Bob were smart enough to realise that there was a light at the end of the tunnel"
Parahawking
"Parahawking flights can be a little bit complex at times. When we're flying, quite often we're flying with a number of other pilots in the sky. The conditions can be very changeable and so you've got to make sure that you've got full control of the glider, and full awareness of the situation... "

"Quite often the birds are around the glider, quite close to the lines so it's imperative that you understand the bird's behaviour in flight, and how to react and control the glider to avoid any dangerous situations"
The Eagle
"We were at a stage where he (Clive) was so stressed all the time that it that was manifesting itself in various different injuries and situations, he was unlikely to even survive in captivity. We'd gone through so much over the last year and a half that I just simply couldn't allow that to happen..."

"But I still wasn't 100% comfortable with the situation, and I questioned that decision every second up until the point where I opened the box. At this moment it's do or die,  am I really letting this bird go into an uncertain future?"
The Vulture Crisis
"This is one of the quickest fastest catastrophic declines of any animal since the dodo..."

"Sometimes you've got to be a little bit creative when you are dealing with conservation. Particularly when you're trying to help a species that is difficult to empathise with... Vultures aren't the prettiest animals. Everyone's image of a vulture is with its head stuck in a carcass, covered in blood, and you know, people don't really care that they are dying out in their millions..."
The Problems
"It's a worry of mine every single day. I wake up in the morning and think are we going to be able to continue with Parahawking?"

"Some of the obstacles that have been put in our way are just making it more and more difficult... and it seems such a shame that something that can do such good will end up being banned for various different reasons, and we'll have to stop."
The Flight
"Korchon was something we'd been planning for a few years but I'm very cautious about pushing birds to do things that they may no be able to do physically. I'm aware of our birds limitations and I always wanted to be sure that when we do it the birds were going to be fit enough to complete the journey...."

"There is always an element of risk when you are taking off on a paraglider, some wind is sometimes your friend, and no wind is definitely your enemy, and on this occasion there was no wind, there was not a breath of wind"

Buy the DVD - Flight For Survival

FFS

Flight For Survival - DVD
A film by award winning film makers Scott Mason and Martin Cray

Price: £19.95 (+£2.75 p&p)
Length: 52 min
Language: English
Format: PAL - All regions
Available: Worldwide

£1 from the sale of every DVD will go towards the development of the Pokhara Vulture Safe Zone project. For more information about the project, click here - Pokhara Vulture Safe Zone

 

 

 

Synopsis:

Asian Vultures are dying out at an alarming rate. In the last decade, 99.9% of the population has disappeared making them more endangered than the Polar Bear - but it's the Vulture's unlovable reputation that's kept their plight out of the public eye.

Now, one man has made it his life's mission to bring the Vulture's imminent extinction to the world's attention. We follow Scott’s journey through a series of trials and tribulations as he battles the elements in the Himalayan mountains to bring his conservation message to the world.

By combining conservation, adventure sport and the ancient art of falconry, Scott Mason, is determined to halt the rapid decline of a much misunderstood species.

Scott Mason realised that to compete for publicity in a world where sensation is king he needed to do something very different. He hit upon the idea of combining his lifelong love of Falconry with the extreme sport of Paragliding and thus invented Parahawking - flying with his rescued and rehabilitated Egyptian Vultures, interacting with the birds in their own environment.

Flight for Survival documents Scott's struggle to raise awareness of the Vulture's plight by undertaking his greatest challenge to date - a 10,000ft climb in the Himalayan Mountains to attempt the highest, longest, most challenging parahawking flight ever.

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Useful links

    • Parahawking
      Detailed information about Parahawking in Nepal and Spain with news, movies, pictures and details on how to book.
    • Himalayan Raptor Rescue
      Himalayan Raptor Rescue is a non profit, privately run and almost self funded Bird of prey rescue, rehabilitation and release facility. It's the only dedicated bird of prey rescue and rehabilitation facility in Nepal.
    • Bird Conservaton Nepal
      BCN is the largest and oldest civil society organisation dedicated to the interests of ornithologists, bird watchers and conservationists in Nepal.
    • Vulture Rescue
      Extensive information on the Asian Vulture crisis

Vulture News

Thanks to:

Anita Hjertas, Graham Saunders-Griffiths, Adam Hill, Bhupal Gurung, Nani Gurung, Claudio Mota, Elli Mota, Raju Remal, James Irons, Matt Stannford, David Metzgar, Elizabeth Hunt, Shiva (Taxi), DB Chaudary, Hilary White, Brad Sander, Jamie Messenger, Emily Hammell and Andi Campbell-Waite

Extra special thanks to:

kevandbob