Kazakhstan's eagle hunters soar as other raptors fall prey to black market

By Peter Shadbolt, for CNN

July 25, 2012 -- Updated 0046 GMT (0846 HKT)

While many Kazakh golden eagle hunters keep the tradition alive through shows for tourists, a handful use the animals to hunt for real.

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On the hunt

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STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Tradition of hunting with golden eagles remains in Kazakhstan
• Most handlers survive through doing shows, although some use to hunt
• Kazakhstan's falcons targeted by poachers for sale in Middle East
• Number of native saker falcons in wild is rapidly declining

Editor's note: Each month Eye On takes you to a different location, highlighting the interesting places and innovative people transforming their country.

(CNN) -- Replete in felt peak caps and with long embroidered coats, the eagle hunters of Kazakhstan are an arresting sight.

With golden eagles, some standing almost 3-feet-high perched on their arms, they also carry with pride the Kazakh tradition of hunting using birds of prey that stretches back to the days of Genghis Khan.

The practice of hunting with eagles and falcons was almost wiped out by the Soviets who regarded it as a feudal throwback, but thanks to organized eagle-hunting competitions - and a growing interest in Kazakh traditions - the eagle hunters are making a comeback.

A bird show at Sunkar Raptor Sanctuary, situated outside the city of Almaty, uses a wolf-skin lure to demonstrate the lethal striking ability of trained eagles.

One of the world's largest birds of prey, a golden eagle can swoop on quarry as large as a wolf, reaching speeds of 120 mph in its initial strike. Its talons can exert pressure of upwards of 200 pounds per square inch, allowing it to hold down prey while ripping into it with a razor-sharp hooked beak.

There are specialist teams operating that capture wild falcons. It's very organized, it's a kind of Mafia.
Paul Pfander, bird of prey handler

According to Paul Pfander, one the leading bird handlers in Kazakhstan, hunting with eagles is unique to the country and neighboring Kyrgyzstan, noting that there are now some 50 eagle handlers Kazakhstan.

Kazakhstan's nomad musicians

"Most of eagle handlers are happy to make a living posing for photographs for tourists," says Pfander, but he notes that there is a very small group of around 10 traditional eagle hunters still who ride the Kazakh steppes seeking out live prey.

Kazakh sport not for the faint-hearted

As interest in the Kazakh tradition of falconry and eagling increases, shows such as those at the Sunkar sanctuary are helping to finance programs to preserve the Central Asian habitat of another of the country's birds of prey, the saker falcon.

"There are a lot more conservation groups now," says Pfander. "And they are attracting a lot more money than before."

Dating, the Kazakh way

It's an important project as Kazakhstan's falcons, unlike its eagles, are in the sights of poachers.

"I would say in the past two decades the numbers of saker falcons (in Kazakhstan) has dropped by 90%," says Pfander. The birds are listed as "endangered" on the IUCN's Red List of Threatened Species that notes the species "may be undergoing a very rapid decline".

Wealthy states in the Middle East like the UAE are the main destination for wild-caught birds, where a falcon perched on the leather glove of a rich Emirati is as potent a status symbol as a private jet or top-end Mercedes.

Efforts to send birds back to Kazakhstan, like a recent program by the Abu Dhabi Falcon Hospital to return 66 falcons to their natural habitat, are small in comparison to the size of the market.

The 150 birds bred each year as part of the Sunkar Raptor Sanctuary's breeding program also represent a mere drop in the bucket compared to the estimated thousands smuggled out of the country.

The international black market in hunting falcons is estimated to be worth as much as $300 million a year, according to conservation groups, with gyr, saker and peregrine falcons commanding as much as $200,000 a bird.

It is so lucrative that a 2010 documentary called "Feathered Cocaine" alleged it is linked to the murky world of funding for Islamic terrorism.

Pfander believes the problem is a simple equation of too many people, too few nature reserves and a thriving foreign market.

"Now you can drive anywhere in Kazakhstan and this allows people to get to more and more areas of the falcons' habitat," he says. "There are specialist teams operating that capture wild falcons. It's a very organized, it has its own hierarchy and everyone knows who they are -- it's a kind of Mafia," he adds.

Despite the problems for the saker falcon, the Kazakh tradition of hunting with birds of prey -- especially the golden eagle - is not likely to die out in the near future.

The sheer size of the bird, mixed with the difficulty of training a raptor that can present as much a danger to its handler as its prey, means its numbers in Kazakhstan are presently stable.

"There is just no foreign market for these birds," says Pfander.

CNN's Eye On series often carries sponsorship originating from the countries we profile. However CNN retains full editorial control over all of its reports.

Kazakhstan's eagle hunters soar as other raptors fall prey to black market

By Peter Shadbolt, for CNN

July 25, 2012 -- Updated 0046 GMT (0846 HKT)

While many Kazakh golden eagle hunters keep the tradition alive through shows for tourists, a handful use the animals to hunt for real.

HIDE CAPTION

On the hunt

<<

<

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

>

>>

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Tradition of hunting with golden eagles remains in Kazakhstan
• Most handlers survive through doing shows, although some use to hunt
• Kazakhstan's falcons targeted by poachers for sale in Middle East
• Number of native saker falcons in wild is rapidly declining

Editor's note: Each month Eye On takes you to a different location, highlighting the interesting places and innovative people transforming their country.

(CNN) -- Replete in felt peak caps and with long embroidered coats, the eagle hunters of Kazakhstan are an arresting sight.

With golden eagles, some standing almost 3-feet-high perched on their arms, they also carry with pride the Kazakh tradition of hunting using birds of prey that stretches back to the days of Genghis Khan.

The practice of hunting with eagles and falcons was almost wiped out by the Soviets who regarded it as a feudal throwback, but thanks to organized eagle-hunting competitions - and a growing interest in Kazakh traditions - the eagle hunters are making a comeback.

A bird show at Sunkar Raptor Sanctuary, situated outside the city of Almaty, uses a wolf-skin lure to demonstrate the lethal striking ability of trained eagles.

One of the world's largest birds of prey, a golden eagle can swoop on quarry as large as a wolf, reaching speeds of 120 mph in its initial strike. Its talons can exert pressure of upwards of 200 pounds per square inch, allowing it to hold down prey while ripping into it with a razor-sharp hooked beak.

There are specialist teams operating that capture wild falcons. It's very organized, it's a kind of Mafia.
Paul Pfander, bird of prey handler

According to Paul Pfander, one the leading bird handlers in Kazakhstan, hunting with eagles is unique to the country and neighboring Kyrgyzstan, noting that there are now some 50 eagle handlers Kazakhstan.

Kazakhstan's nomad musicians

"Most of eagle handlers are happy to make a living posing for photographs for tourists," says Pfander, but he notes that there is a very small group of around 10 traditional eagle hunters still who ride the Kazakh steppes seeking out live prey.

Kazakh sport not for the faint-hearted

As interest in the Kazakh tradition of falconry and eagling increases, shows such as those at the Sunkar sanctuary are helping to finance programs to preserve the Central Asian habitat of another of the country's birds of prey, the saker falcon.

"There are a lot more conservation groups now," says Pfander. "And they are attracting a lot more money than before."

Dating, the Kazakh way

It's an important project as Kazakhstan's falcons, unlike its eagles, are in the sights of poachers.

"I would say in the past two decades the numbers of saker falcons (in Kazakhstan) has dropped by 90%," says Pfander. The birds are listed as "endangered" on the IUCN's Red List of Threatened Species that notes the species "may be undergoing a very rapid decline".

Wealthy states in the Middle East like the UAE are the main destination for wild-caught birds, where a falcon perched on the leather glove of a rich Emirati is as potent a status symbol as a private jet or top-end Mercedes.

Efforts to send birds back to Kazakhstan, like a recent program by the Abu Dhabi Falcon Hospital to return 66 falcons to their natural habitat, are small in comparison to the size of the market.

The 150 birds bred each year as part of the Sunkar Raptor Sanctuary's breeding program also represent a mere drop in the bucket compared to the estimated thousands smuggled out of the country.

The international black market in hunting falcons is estimated to be worth as much as $300 million a year, according to conservation groups, with gyr, saker and peregrine falcons commanding as much as $200,000 a bird.

It is so lucrative that a 2010 documentary called "Feathered Cocaine" alleged it is linked to the murky world of funding for Islamic terrorism.

Pfander believes the problem is a simple equation of too many people, too few nature reserves and a thriving foreign market.

"Now you can drive anywhere in Kazakhstan and this allows people to get to more and more areas of the falcons' habitat," he says. "There are specialist teams operating that capture wild falcons. It's a very organized, it has its own hierarchy and everyone knows who they are -- it's a kind of Mafia," he adds.

Despite the problems for the saker falcon, the Kazakh tradition of hunting with birds of prey -- especially the golden eagle - is not likely to die out in the near future.

The sheer size of the bird, mixed with the difficulty of training a raptor that can present as much a danger to its handler as its prey, means its numbers in Kazakhstan are presently stable.

"There is just no foreign market for these birds," says Pfander.

CNN's Eye On series often carries sponsorship originating from the countries we profile. However CNN retains full editorial control over all of its reports.

Was the Shell oil hoax ethical?

By Paul Root Wolpe, Special to CNN

July 24, 2012 -- Updated 1146 GMT (1946 HKT)

Arcticready.com.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Greenpeace, Yes Men stage hoax about Shell Oil company using fake website and video
• Paul Wolpe: Welcome to the Golden Age of culture jamming
• He says line between legitimate protest and misrepresentation is ethically questionable
• Wolpe: A culture jamming war online would do no one any good

Editor's note: Paul Root Wolpe is director of the Center for Ethics at Emory University.

(CNN) -- Recently, a puzzling website appeared that seemed to be from the Shell Oil Company. Using Shell's logo and its website's design, the page contained information about Shell's oil drilling activities in the Arctic. It included a function where viewers could caption pictures said to be taken by Shell Oil in the north (a dangerous feature for Shell -- just imagine the captions people would generate under a picture of a baby Arctic fox on an oil company website).

Soon after, a video appeared on YouTube that seemed to show an event sponsored by Shell that went badly awry. A small fountain, in the shape of an oil rig, starts spraying guests and some of the pseudo-environmental decorations of the Alaskan frontier with simulated oil. Finally, in the video, what seemed to be a poorly designed media response by Shell Oil made everything worse.

As you may have guessed (if you have not already heard), the entire thing -- website, video and even Shell's response -- was a hoax created by Greenpeace and the Yes Men, a group of online activists that targets corporations. Shell has wisely decided to remain low-key about the whole thing, issuing a press release that clarifies its lack of involvement but otherwise just hoping the whole concocted ensemble would go away.

Paul Root Wolpe

Is Greenpeace's prank on Shell oil a 'scam'?

Welcome to the golden age of culture jamming. Coined in 1984, culture jamming is a tactic of subverting the media as a form of protest. But the advent of social media has taken it to a whole new level.

In the old days, culture jamming might mean defacing a billboard, handing out forged fliers, or staging a false corporate or political event and hoping the media would cover it as if it was real. But today, a fake video or website can quickly go viral and be spread through tens of thousands of shares, tweets, repostings and imitations. It is almost impossible to put that genie back in the bottle.

Social media is emerging as a powerful tool, and neither law nor social consensus has yet caught up with it.

Arctic oil vs. Alaska's natives

On the one hand, it allows a remarkable amount of influence to be wielded by those who traditionally had little. Social media ends the communication dominance of the big players like the mass media and large corporations; it is the great equalizer. From the privacy of one's computer, virtually the entire world can be one's audience.

On the other hand, because it is both relatively cheap and can be so potent, social media is ripe for abuse, whether through scams, gossip, or misrepresentations.

As a medium of protest, the tool is a mixed blessing. Certainly, social media provides some balance in the information battle with corporations who have multimillion-dollar public relations and advertising programs.

But the line between legitimate protest through culture jamming and libelous misrepresentation or trademark infringement is muddy. While the legal issues may be contentious, the ethical boundaries seem clearer.

Opinion: Why we should look to the Arctic

Many sympathize with the intent of the Greenpeace-Yes Men protest. Yet, as much as one might disagree with a particular corporate action, the honest choice demands either engaging in civil protest and accepting the consequences, or staging a symbolic protest (such as culture jamming, parody, or satire) that is clearly identifiable as an act of protest.

The Shell Oil hoax did not announce itself as a parody (though a discerning viewer could detect it), and so neglects the second standard. Satire or parody should be obvious -- maybe not immediately, but soon -- or it is in danger of becoming little more than misrepresentation.

Sometimes misrepresentation is the clear intent of the protester. There is a place in a democratic society for such acts; civil disobedience and other mildly illegal protests have a long history in the United States. But one must cross legal boundaries, even in protest, with a willingness to accept the consequences.

If the Shell Oil hoax is determined by a court to violate a law (such as trademark infringement), Greenpeace and the Yes Men should man up, accept the verdict and pay the appropriate penalty. I doubt that such a verdict will impede people from using social media as a medium of protest. But if tactics like the Shell Oil hoax become accepted and common, they can easily backfire; opponents could just as easily use the same strategy against an organization like Greenpeace.

A culture jamming war would do no one any good. The information overload online is already overwhelming and confusing enough. We don't need a situation where we have to question the validity of every website and video we click on. Let's keep it clean, everyone -- tell us who you are, and then take your best shot.

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The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Paul Root Wolpe.

Romney walks political tightrope on foreign policy

By Tom Cohen, CNN

July 24, 2012 -- Updated 2052 GMT (0452 HKT)

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: Romney calls for full suspension of Iran's nuclear enrichment
• Mitt Romney espouses a conservative world view, but more moderate foreign policies
• Romney criticizes President Obama for a lack of leadership on international issues
• Romney travels to England, Israel and Poland later this week

Washington (CNN) -- Mitt Romney's political tightrope in his quest for the presidency has been especially evident on foreign policy, with the certain Republican nominee sounding conservative while also espousing more moderate approaches similar to his opponent, President Barack Obama.

Facing opinion polls that show more public support for Obama on foreign policy, Romney has constantly criticized what he calls the president's failure to lead on international issues such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Iran's nuclear ambitions and Syria.

On closer view, though, details of Romney's foreign policies so far have advocated sanctions, coalition-building and other diplomatic approaches similar to Obama administration policies.

In a speech Tuesday, the former Massachusetts governor sought to create more distance from Obama in advance of Romney's much-publicized trip later this week to key U.S.-allies England, Israel and Poland.

Romney travels abroad to 'learn and listen'

The address to war veterans included stinging attacks of Obama's policies, which Romney said weakened the nation and its international standing, along with pledges to fulfill the conservative view of the United States as a force for good that uses all its power, including military, to exert influence in the world.

Romney calls for an 'American century'

"I am not ashamed of American power," Romney told the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention in Reno, Nevada, adding "I do not view America as just one more point on the strategic map, one more power to be balanced."

Instead, Romney said he wanted to bring an "American century" in which the United States has the world's strongest economy and military that secures peace through its strength. 
"And if by absolute necessity we must employ it, we must wield our strength with resolve," Romney said to applause. "In an American century, we lead the free world and the free world leads the entire world."

Failure to exert that leading role, Romney warned, will provide an opening in which "other powers will take our place, pulling history in a very different direction."

Such a message is part of Romney's effort to contrast his positions from Obama's diplomatic approach, such as oft-stalled multinational negotiations with Iran and North Korea intended to reduce their nuclear capabilities and efforts to build an international coalition to end the carnage in Syria.

Those tactics don't work, Romney has argued, saying the Arab Spring rush for democratic change has spun out of control and Obama's failure to fully support Israel has harmed the Middle East peace process while strengthening Iran's hand in the nuclear talks.

In Tuesday's speech, Romney called for a halt to any enrichment of nuclear materials by Iran and signaled that if president, he would launch a military operation if necessary to prevent Tehran from gaining nuclear weapons capability.

"I pledge to you and to all Americans that if I become commander in chief, I will use every means necessary to protect ourselves and the region, and to prevent the worst from happening while there is still time," Romney said. "It is a mistake -- and sometimes a tragic one -- to think that firmness in American foreign policy can only bring tension or conflict. The surest path to danger is always weakness and indecision."

While Romney's statement went further than Obama in demanding a halt to any enrichment, the implied threat of possible military action amounted to the same policy as the Obama administration, which says all options remain on the table.

Obama aides note that the president has been a leader on a host of international issues, including nuclear non-proliferation efforts and the building of an unprecedented international coalition including some Arab states to launch a miltiary intervention in Libya.

The Obama team also is quick to note two major foreign policy triumphs -- the ending of the Iraq war, as promised by the president in his 2008 campaign for the White House and the U.S. mission that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

Romney's speech Tuesday also criticized the Obama administration for leaks of classified information on the bin Laden raid and other issues. Obama's campaign responded that such criticism was a diversion.

"With all of the complex global challenges facing our nation today, Gov. Romney's much-hyped foreign policy speech once again is all bluster, offering no specific plans for our relations with any region of the world," Obama campaign press secretary Ben LaBolt said before Romney spoke.

Feinstein hits Romney for using her comments in speech

Despite his consistent criticism of Obama's policies, Romney's proposals have been general in nature and sometimes appear to mimic the Obama approach.

On Syria, Romney has called for working with allies to arm the rebels, but stopped short of advocating U.S. military involvement, which is similar to the administration's stance so far. The main difference is in visibility -- Romney says the United States should have been a leading voice from the start in calling for al Assad's ouster and support for the rebels, while the administration adopted a more neutral stance seeking a diplomatic resolution that has failed to materialize.

Regarding the Middle East conflict, Romney advocates a lock-step approach with Israel instead of the administration's attempt to assume more of a mediator's role.

Such a show of support may play well among Jewish voters in the United States, as well as pro-Israel evangelicals whom Romney struggled to court during the Republican primaries.

And Romney's visit to Israel this week, including a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, may draw attention to Obama's sometimes shaky relationship with the Israeli leader.

Israel re-enters focus ahead of Romney trip

In January, Romney said at a Republican presidential debate that Obama "threw Israel under the bus" for suggesting that negotiations on a future Palestinian state begin with borders that existed before the 1967 Six-Day War.

Since then, however, Romney has avoided specific proposals for a peace plan, saying on his website that he would "reject any measure that would frustrate direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians."

Romney's stance on the Afghanistan war shows the nuance he uses to try to keep conservatives and moderates happy. While criticizing Obama for announcing plans to bring home some troops before the November election, he supports the timetable agreed to by NATO of withdrawing combat forces by the end of 2014.

A recent CNN/ORC international poll showed 53% of respondents believed Obama would handle foreign policy better than Romney, who got 41% support. Obama's advantage was greater -- 54% to 38% -- among independent voters considered key to the election.

With his overseas trip this week, Romney seeks to burnish his foreign policy credentials by meeting with top leaders of all three allies. However, Romney's aides say no big policy announcements are expected on the trip.

CNN's Kevin Liptak and Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.