Students from Seven Countries Attend the Summer School on Falconry and the Rehabilitation of Birds of Prey in Košice
©University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy in Košice
The first edition of the VetNEST Summer School, dedicated to falconry, the rehabilitation of birds of prey and nature conservation, was organised by the University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy in Košice during the last week of August (23–28 August 2026). The intensive course is intended for veterinary medicine students (from the 4th year of study onwards) from all partner institutions of the VetNEST-Extended project who expressed an interest in participating. A total of 11 students from Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Poland, Austria, Slovenia and Serbia applied for the Summer School through the CEEPUS programme.
During the summer school main focus was to learn student about falconry as part of the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, to understand specific behaviour of the main species of birds of prey, as well as the historical and legislative aspects of hunting with birds of prey. Students become familiar with falconry equipment and its use in the rehabilitation of wild birds of prey. They learned about the most common injuries suffered by birds of prey in connection with rehabilitation and falconry. They go throughtout the conditions required for keeping birds of prey in captivity and observe practical demonstrations of training and handling captive birds of prey.
Students also performed clinical examinations of birds of prey, blood sampling, cytological and parasitological examinations, non-invasive clinical examinations, practical demonstrations of feather repair and replacement, necropsy of birds of prey, and an overview of the most common diseases occurring in captivity and in the wild. They also experienced surgical procedures for treating fractures in birds of prey and learned basic surgical procedures for treating birds of prey.
The programme also included pre-purchase examinations, including X-rays, endoscopic examinations and the interpretation of diagnostic findings and diagnose the presence of pathological changes. At the same time, they learned to examine the trachea and crop for the diagnosis of parasitic and other diseases.
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