Road to freedom: Official negligence results in turtles’ death
Over 700 black-spotted turtles, recovered in Karachi recently, were being set free
The black-spotted turtles were released in Indus River near Kalar Goth on Monday morning. PHOTO: EXPRESS
SUKKUR:
More than two dozen black-spotted turtles died while being transported to Kalar Goth to be released in the Indus River on Monday.
The bodies were eventually thrown into the river which is reflective of the carelessness of the officials of wildlife department and World Wide Fund for Nature-Pakistan (WWF-P).
A team of the wildlife department and WWF-P brought around 780 black-spotted turtles from Karachi in sacks on Sunday night. They had been recovered in a raid from a house in Defence from where they were reportedly going to be smuggled abroad.
The turtles were kept overnight at their office in Sukkur in the same sacks and in the morning were taken to be released in the Indus River, near Kalar Goth, some 15 kilometres away from Sukkur. Media personnel were kept in the dark about the release; however three journalists managed to reach the site of release and witnessed officials disposing dead turtles in the river.
As soon as the trucks carrying the turtles reached Kalar Goth, an argument sprung up between officials of the wildlife department and WWF-P regarding who will release the turtles first, informed a journalist from Sukkur, requesting anonymity.
During the argument, some turtles fell from the truck and were crushed when the trucks moved to be parked in another place.
According to reporters present at the site, more than two dozen turtles had died due to the mishandling by the officials and their bodies were mercilessly thrown into the river instead of being buried.
The turtles were already exhausted as they were stuffed in jute bags and should have been released immediately, said an official of the wildlife department, requesting anonymity. But they were unnecessarily kept overnight at the office so that a 'photo shoot' could take place in the morning, he added.
Last year, some black-spotted turtles were brought back from China, and were kept in a pool of water at the Dolphin Conservation Centre near Lab-e-Mehran, Sukkur, situated at the right bank of the Indus River, thus none of them had died, he explained.
The deputy conservator of wildlife department, Sukkur, Taj Mohammad Shaikh, said that the turtles were brought from Karachi by the field officer of the wildlife department, Adnan Khan, who had recovered the turtles last week from Karachi. A team of the wildlife department and officials of WWF Pakistan were also present at the site of the release, he said.
Shaikh also denied that any turtles had been harmed during the release process. When his attention was brought towards footage of crushed turtles at the site, he claimed to be unaware of the situation. WWF-P, Sukkur, senior project officer Imran Malik was unavailable for comments despite repeated attempts.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 13th, 2016.
More than two dozen black-spotted turtles died while being transported to Kalar Goth to be released in the Indus River on Monday.
The bodies were eventually thrown into the river which is reflective of the carelessness of the officials of wildlife department and World Wide Fund for Nature-Pakistan (WWF-P).
A team of the wildlife department and WWF-P brought around 780 black-spotted turtles from Karachi in sacks on Sunday night. They had been recovered in a raid from a house in Defence from where they were reportedly going to be smuggled abroad.
The turtles were kept overnight at their office in Sukkur in the same sacks and in the morning were taken to be released in the Indus River, near Kalar Goth, some 15 kilometres away from Sukkur. Media personnel were kept in the dark about the release; however three journalists managed to reach the site of release and witnessed officials disposing dead turtles in the river.
As soon as the trucks carrying the turtles reached Kalar Goth, an argument sprung up between officials of the wildlife department and WWF-P regarding who will release the turtles first, informed a journalist from Sukkur, requesting anonymity.
During the argument, some turtles fell from the truck and were crushed when the trucks moved to be parked in another place.
According to reporters present at the site, more than two dozen turtles had died due to the mishandling by the officials and their bodies were mercilessly thrown into the river instead of being buried.
The turtles were already exhausted as they were stuffed in jute bags and should have been released immediately, said an official of the wildlife department, requesting anonymity. But they were unnecessarily kept overnight at the office so that a 'photo shoot' could take place in the morning, he added.
Last year, some black-spotted turtles were brought back from China, and were kept in a pool of water at the Dolphin Conservation Centre near Lab-e-Mehran, Sukkur, situated at the right bank of the Indus River, thus none of them had died, he explained.
The deputy conservator of wildlife department, Sukkur, Taj Mohammad Shaikh, said that the turtles were brought from Karachi by the field officer of the wildlife department, Adnan Khan, who had recovered the turtles last week from Karachi. A team of the wildlife department and officials of WWF Pakistan were also present at the site of the release, he said.
Shaikh also denied that any turtles had been harmed during the release process. When his attention was brought towards footage of crushed turtles at the site, he claimed to be unaware of the situation. WWF-P, Sukkur, senior project officer Imran Malik was unavailable for comments despite repeated attempts.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 13th, 2016.