International Falcon Smuggling

1985 • Directed by

Ralph Christians

Documentary

The smugglers, who come from Europe and the United States of America, steal the eggs of the arctic gerfalcon and transport them in private planes to Germany. The young birds are then sold for $50,000 each, usually to wealthy Arabs. The white falcon is the biggest and strongest falcon in the world; tragically most of them die when exposed to the heat of the desert. The film investigates the methods of the smugglers and shows interviews with falcon dealers, policemen, animal protectors in Europe and America and includes authentic shots from a "falconbust" in Cologne, Germany.