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King Abdulaziz Falconry Festival 2023 Enters Guinness Records as Largest Falconry Competition Globally

Saudi Arabia’s King Abdulaziz Falconry Festival 2023 has set a new world record by entering the Guinness World Records for the third time in its history. SPA
Saudi Arabia’s King Abdulaziz Falconry Festival 2023 has set a new world record by entering the Guinness World Records for the third time in its history. SPA
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King Abdulaziz Falconry Festival 2023 Enters Guinness Records as Largest Falconry Competition Globally

Saudi Arabia’s King Abdulaziz Falconry Festival 2023 has set a new world record by entering the Guinness World Records for the third time in its history. SPA
Saudi Arabia’s King Abdulaziz Falconry Festival 2023 has set a new world record by entering the Guinness World Records for the third time in its history. SPA

Saudi Arabia’s King Abdulaziz Falconry Festival 2023 has set a new world record by entering the Guinness World Records for the third time in its history.

It is now recognized as the largest falconry competition in the world, with 2,654 falcons participating.

The festival was held between November 28 and December 14 and was organized by the Saudi Falcons Club at its headquarters in Malham, north of Riyadh.

This accomplishment stands as a testament to the steadfast backing of the Saudi leadership in safeguarding the Kingdom's cultural and civilizational heritage. In its inaugural year, the festival secured a Guinness World Record with 1,723 falcons, and in the following year in 2019, it repeated this feat by involving 2,350 falcons.

The festival drew participation from an esteemed gathering of falconers hailing from the Kingdom, Gulf countries, and across the globe. Competing for the festival's awards over a span of 17 days, they vied in Al-Mazayen and Al-Milwah competitions, with prizes exceeding SAR 33.6 million.

As part of ongoing efforts to enhance the ancient falconry heritage in the Kingdom, the Saudi Falcons Club is partnering with the Royal Commission for AlUla to organize the first edition of the AlUla Falconry Cup 2023.

The competition will be held in AlUla from December 28 to January 5, with prizes worth up to SAR60 million in the Al-Milwah and Al-Mazayen competitions. These represent the largest financial prizes ever in the history of falconry competitions in the world.

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Oregon House Cat Died after Eating Pet Food that Tested Positive for Bird Flu

Test tubes are seen labelled "Bird Flu" in this illustration taken on Jun 10, 2024. (File photo: REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration)
Test tubes are seen labelled "Bird Flu" in this illustration taken on Jun 10, 2024. (File photo: REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration)
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Oregon House Cat Died after Eating Pet Food that Tested Positive for Bird Flu

Test tubes are seen labelled "Bird Flu" in this illustration taken on Jun 10, 2024. (File photo: REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration)
Test tubes are seen labelled "Bird Flu" in this illustration taken on Jun 10, 2024. (File photo: REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration)

An Oregon house cat died after eating pet food that tested positive for bird flu, Oregon authorities said, prompting a recall of raw frozen pet food that was sold nationwide.

Northwest Naturals, a pet food company based in Portland, Oregon, said Tuesday it had voluntarily recalled one batch of its two-pound Feline Turkey Recipe raw frozen pet food after it tested positive for the virus. The product was sold through distributors in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Wisconsin, as well as Canada's British Columbia.

“We are confident that this cat contracted H5N1 by eating the Northwest Naturals raw and frozen pet food,” Oregon Department of Agriculture State Veterinarian Dr. Ryan Scholz said in a Tuesday news release. “This cat was strictly an indoor cat; it was not exposed to the virus in its environment, and results from the genome sequencing confirmed that the virus recovered from the raw pet food and infected cat were exact matches to each other.”

The recalled product is packaged in two-pound plastic bags with “best if used by” dates of May 21, 2026, and June 23, 2026. The company and Oregon authorities said that consumers who bought the recalled product should throw it away immediately and contact the place of purchase for a refund, The AP reported.

No human cases of bird flu have been linked to the incident, but those who were in contact with the cat are being monitored for flu symptoms, Oregon authorities said.

More than 60 people in eight states have been infected, with mostly mild illnesses, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC. One person in Louisiana has been hospitalized with the nation’s first known severe illness caused by the virus, health officials said last week.

So far, the CDC has confirmed one human case of bird flu in Oregon. The person was linked to a previously reported outbreak at a commercial poultry operation and fully recovered after experiencing mild illness, according to a November news release from the Oregon Health Authority.

In late October, the US Department of Agriculture announced that a pig at a backyard farm in Oregon was found to have bird flu, marking the first detection of the virus in US swine.