Protecting wildlife: Rare partridges seized from Balochistan-Punjab border

The Wildlife Department had received a tip-off about a smuggling bid

DERA GHAZI KHAN: Authorities on Tuesday foiled a bid to smuggle 36 rare partridges from Balochistan into the Punjab.

According to the Wildlife Department, one of their teams intercepted a vehicle that was carrying the partridges. “We had received a tip-off about the smuggling bid. A team of Wildlife Department officers then set up a check post at Gadie, DG Khan Canal.



They signalled a van to stop. When it was searched, partridges were found hidden underneath the passenger seats in cardboard boxes,” Nawaz Bhutta, a Wildlife Department official, said. He said that the team had also arrested the driver of the van. “We have registered a case against the suspect, Sahib Jaan. He has been handed over to Civil Lines police,” he said.





He said that the suspect had told them that the partridges had been caught in Balochistan’s Rukni area. “There is a ban on transport and hunting of partridges in Balochistan. These partridges were being brought to the Punjab to be sold,” Bhutta said. He said that the birds were estimated to be worth Rs0.1 million in the black market.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 20^th, 2016.