Nasser Muftah is the visionary behind Oryx Falcon Veterinarian. The renowned falcon specialist turned his passion for animals into a thriving business.
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00:00 The falcon is the closest thing to a falconer's heart.
00:07 So when you come and treat that falcon that the guy had memories with, interactions with,
00:11 you can proceed with that and have more memories.
00:15 It was really hard for me to convince a person to come take my medication since I was working
00:21 from home.
00:22 I had no facilities, nothing.
00:25 I was just working in a small room.
00:27 I would do the medication.
00:28 I would fill up the capsules.
00:30 I would do all of that.
00:31 And it started off like that.
00:33 Today we're able to treat whatever comes through our way.
00:37 Some people say that it's by luck.
00:40 Nothing is by luck.
00:41 I really worked hard to be where I am today.
00:46 My name is Nasser Abdullah Muftah.
00:47 I'm the founder of Orcs Falcon Veterinarian in Qatar.
00:50 It's a symbol to Qatar.
01:07 It's something in our culture, something in our heritage, in our blood.
01:11 It's deeply rooted in Qatar.
01:14 Our families before petrol, before the wealth, before all of that.
01:20 They were living in tents.
01:21 They were in the desert.
01:23 There's no means of survival, food or water.
01:27 So a falcon was a weapon, something to retrieve food, something to support the families and
01:34 get food for them.
01:35 So falconers would go on camel's back or on a horseback or on their feet with nothing,
01:42 just a falcon on their hand.
01:43 They'll go and get food for their family and come back.
01:46 So it was a means of survival.
01:58 It was a dream of mine to have a veterinary.
02:02 I've always had a passion for animals since I've ever remembered.
02:06 My favorite without question is the Arabian gazelles.
02:09 There was a lot of interest in that aspect since young age.
02:13 There's pictures of me just with animals, just running around, holding them, being curious.
02:18 What do they do?
02:19 What is the anatomy?
02:21 I was always interested in biology, always interested in dissecting, always interested
02:26 in medicine.
02:27 I was able to do operations on my own at home, simple operations.
02:32 Falcon is a very important bird in Qatar, simply because it's a national bird.
02:39 There is cultural roots and people are proud of falcons.
02:44 Falcon is not a widely spread species.
02:47 It's not like a normal bird.
02:49 So you don't find a lot of medications or pharmaceutical manufacturers dedicated for
02:54 falcons.
02:55 This forced Nasser to start thinking about the big knowledge of the garden therapeutics,
03:02 dosage forms, and tweak it toward falcons.
03:07 Case is a lesson for a lot of people.
03:10 How you can educate yourself, how you can build a nice learning curve associated with
03:16 true passion, true driving force to work on and get it into things that it's not used.
03:24 This is an hard and science, not an easy thing.
03:30 When you say like there's fractures or bone injuries or skin injuries, these are the easiest.
03:37 You can right away treat it.
03:40 The harder things is the things that you can't see with your eyes, like the bacteria, the
03:46 infections, the issues that are internal.
03:49 I would read research and see what's the better alternatives, the better medication for the
03:54 birds.
03:55 I would test it on my own.
03:56 I would have records.
03:57 How did the medication affect that bird?
04:00 Is it positive?
04:01 Is it negative?
04:03 I was able to combine a team of people of science, people of knowledge.
04:09 They are my back.
04:10 They are my support.
04:13 We have achieved a landmark in falconry.
04:15 We have treated a lot of inpatient falcons, now up to 400 falcons, and our success rate
04:22 is more than 75%.
04:24 We have hyperbaric oxygen chamber.
04:33 It is one of its unique kind in Qatar.
04:36 It helps the falcon boost their red blood count, making the healing faster.
04:44 I will say to NASA, congratulations.
04:47 Starting from scratch with no real support on a dive in field that required a lot of
04:53 details and science, this is really, really an outstanding achievement.
05:00 Today, we have more than 400 inpatients.
05:04 We have more than 2,000 birds treated by our medication for air saccolitis.
05:10 I have more than 32 different types of medication under my veterinarian's name.
05:15 All of them have significant outcomes.
05:23 After let's say 50 years when we're all gone, there is something that I can provide for
05:30 falconers or people of science or medicine.
05:33 I'm giving you my notes, my things that I was able to develop.
05:38 Maybe somebody can carry this and go for a walk.
05:48 [MUSIC]
05:58 you