Jaime Samour has dedicated most of his professional life to falcon medicine. He graduated with Honours from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Veracruz University, Veracruz, Mexico in 1978. After a brief period of time working in private practice in El Salvador, he returned to Veracruz University and became an Associate Professor. In 1981, Jaime traveled to London to study and conduct research projects in reptile and avian medicine at the Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London. He also learned hematology under the supervision of Dr. Christine Hawkey and Mike Hart. He received his Doctorate degree in Avian Reproductive Biology from the Royal College of Veterinary Medicine in 1987. Immediately afterwards, Jaime moved to the Middle East where he has worked ever since, first in the Kingdoms of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia and finally in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). His professional experiences include (but are not limited to) serving as the Director of Wildlife at the Wildlife Division of Wrsan in the UAE (2006-2020), Medical Director at the Falcon Specialist Hospital and Research Institute in Saudi Arabia (1998-2006), Head of the Veterinary Science Department at the National Avian Research Centre in the UAE (1993-1998), and the Senior Veterinary Officer at the Wildlife Park and Reserve in Bahrain (1987-1993). Jaime has edited five textbooks, including Avian Medicine, 3rd edition and Hawkey’s Atlas of Wild and Exotic Animal Haematology. He has written 17 chapters in different textbooks on exotic animal and avian medicine and more than 170 articles in magazines and international journals.
Jaime received an Award for his outstanding contribution to the field of Zoological Medicine from the British Veterinary Zoological Society – Parke-Davies – Upjohn in 1998 and the T.J. Lafeber Avian Practitioner of the Year Award in 2006. Jaime earned the status of Specialist in avian medicine from the European College of Zoological Medicine in 2004 and he became Professor of Medicine of Raptors at the College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Parma, Italy, in 2018. Jaime became a Fellow of the prestigious Royal Society of Biology (FRSB) based in London, England in 2018. Currently, Jaime continues to live in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates where he continues to be active in teaching and is dedicated to consulting in wildlife medicine and management and falcon medicine and reproduction.
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