The inaugural meeting of the IRBPP Advisory Board was held on Friday 1st March.
Although this was essentially a business meeting to discuss terms of reference, membership and appointment of officers etc, it was clear from the comments made during the course of the meeting that the Advisory Board members present felt that the IRBPP should continue in it’s current role supporting commercial and professional falconers of all types through our work in respect of education, training and Continuing Professional Development.
The subject of changes to the rules on tethering, transport and temporary housing of raptors was raised in general discussion. It was felt quite strongly that the changes soon to be introduced in the revised Secretary of State’s Standards of Modern Zoo Practice could mean significant costs, upheaval and possibly some restriction of activities such as school visits, shows and events.
It was also felt that these changes might soon be extended to the AAL licensing regime as well.
As a result, we were tasked with making contact with DEFRA to establish the detail of the changes to the Zoo Standards and to communicate these to members and the wider professional bird of prey community.
We will be developing a short online training course to cover the changes and the impact on professional falconers as soon as full details are to hand.
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