Canadian falcon commands highest price at Saudi breeders auction

 Canadian-bred bird was sold for $346,000 at the International Falcon Breeders Auction in Saudi Arabia on Saturday, making it the most expensive sale so far at this year's event, and the second-highest price ever achieved at the annual auction.

Bred by the Jim Wilson farm in Ontario, Canada, the juvenile three-quarter gyr super white falcon was sold on the seventh night of the auction, which is organised by the National Center for Falcons at its headquarters in Malham, around 65 km (40 miles) north of the Saudi capital of Riyadh.

Birds sold at the auction are automatically qualified to take part in popular falcon races in Saudi Arabia, where the total prize pot for the racing season is around $12.5 million.

The bidding for the Canadian falcon opened at 200,000 Saudi riyals ($53,000), and the auction drew strong interest before the bird was eventually sold for 1.3 million riyals ($346,000).

The highest price ever paid at the international auction was achieved in 2021, when a bidder paid 1.75 million riyals ($467,000) for a juvenile ultra-white three-quarter pure gyr falcon.

The auction runs until August 25.

Reporting by Philip O'ConnorEditing by Rod Nickel/Reuters