Hunting with falcons is a popular sport, not only in Qatar, but across the region.

Doha has a specialist Falcon Hospital in the popular Souq Waqif where injured birds are treated.

According to a recent report on the BBC, this hospital has 30 vets and staff from around the world.

It caters to the needs of falcons and their deep-pocketed owners, passionate players in this ancient sport of kings.

"Falcons are very brave birds and will attack anything so sometimes they come in to us damaged," Mohammed, a medical engineer, told the BBC.

If your falcon is missing a feather or two after a nasty scrap with a houbara bustard, not a problem.

The hospital has a well-stocked feather bank. A broken wing? Whisk the bird off to orthopaedic surgery.

Digestion issues? Time for a fecal and blood check. If that doesn't do the trick, perhaps pharmaceutical and toxicology analysis is the answer.

What does this sort of treatment cost? A check-up costs QAR 100 riyals and an X-ray will cost only QAR 20.

"We get people coming from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and all over the Gulf bringing their falcons in here," Mohammed said.

The falcon hospital is just one of many signs that this once sleepy village of pearl divers and fishermen has become an astonishingly rich Arab city. (Cover photo:Sogs Karim

Have you seen the Falcon Hospital in Souq Waqif?