We’ve always had the desire to leave our earth-bound bodies and take flight with the birds. We achieved the miracle of flight over a century ago. But only recently did we create a robot that can mechanically reproduce the beauty of birds in flight. And now we’ve taken the next step, actually joining birds high in the air. Above you can watch ParaHawking in action, a fusion between falconry and paragliding that lets you interact with birds of prey in their own environment. It all takes place in Nepal. And it’s all part of an effort to conserve Asia’s threatened vulture population. Learn more about these conservation efforts and ParaHawking itself at, of course, Parahawking.com.
And if you want to see what happens when a paraglider (not affiliated with this project) accidentally runs into an eagle, watch below:
H/T Metafilter
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and now Google Plus and share intelligent media with your friends! They’ll thank you for it.
I really hope this doesn’t lead to the kinds of unnatural behavior modification that result from the widely discouraged whale and dolphin swim-with programs!
That is the coolest thing EVER! Watching it made me feel exhilarated, for one thing, which is pretty astounding in and of itself. The interaction between the hawk and the humans, too… I dunno there was something there that lifted my spirit.
I’m glad to have seen this, glad it was filmed, glad to share.
Flying with birds isn’t always cool – http://youtu.be/ZGzzSIZvA40 )
It’s fantastic, I’m sure – but I do hope that not too many people take their wings and fly. it probably scares and confuses the animals and people come in flocks i*m sure it will cause distress and can lead to serious destruction.
Pike, Jim and Dmitri are no doubt leftists