Giant loss

Discovery of Baluchitherium also proves that Pakistan hosts a treasure trove of fossilised history.

The 2006 military operation that led to the death of Nawab Akbar Bugti, which involved the bombing of the hills and hamlets across the Dera Bugti region may — apart from so many other things — also have cost us one of the most important paleontological findings of our time. According to a recent report in this newspaper, in 1999, a team of French scientists had uncovered, in the sandy hills of Dera Bugti, the fossilised remains of what they believed was the largest mammal to ever walk the earth. The hornless, rhinoceros-like creature, which lived some 30 million years ago, is called Baluchitherium, after it was named as such by the British scientist, who in 1910, found evidence of its existence. The French team, which nearly 90 years later, put together its bones, believed it weighed as much as four elephants, stood some 18 feet high and measured 21 feet in length.

It is now feared that this discovery — made after the late Nawab granted permission for the Dera Bugti hills to be excavated — may have been lost forever following the bombing of the region. It had been agreed at the time that the bones would not be removed from Balochistan, but after some hesitation, Nawab Bugti had allowed them to be shifted to Karachi so that they could be assembled in a more suitable setting. Funding for shifting the bones to Karachi was being sought, and meanwhile, they were stored at the Nawab’s mansion. The scientists also made discoveries, which indicate the barren Dera Bugti area was once a tropical forest.

The French team believes a key discovery has been destroyed forever. However, local paleontologists are more optimistic that some of the remains may have survived. The discovery of Baluchitherium also proves —they say — that Pakistan hosts a treasure trove of fossilised history of immense scientific value. What is lacking is the interest, the funds and the will to explore this heritage further, and by doing so, making a key contribution at the global level to what we know about the past of our country and the territory that it stands on today.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 18^th, 2012.