Fowl play: 2 men arrested for smuggling

Sukkur Wildlife Department arrests two men for trying to smuggle 23 rare birds.


Sarfaraz Memon October 14, 2010

SUKKUR: The Sukkur Wildlife Department arrested two men on Wednesday for trying to smuggle 23 rare birds.

A team of the wildlife department, led by Deedar Bhagat, raided a passenger coach at Babarloi Bypass near Sukkur and detained three men. Muhammad Imran, Muhammad Sharif and Dr Khan Pathan, all residents of Bannu, were on their way to Peshawar from Karachi with 21 cranes and two falcons.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Bhagat said that case No. 19/2010 has been registered against the accused and investigations are under way. The detained men are likely to be fined somewhere between Rs25,000 and Rs200,000 and will be released if they pay the sum. Otherwise, their challan will be presented in court, where the judge can send the accused to jail for any period of time, he said.

As far as the birds are concerned, they will be released in the forest shortly, he added.

According to Bhagat, falcons are popular with smugglers as they can fetch huge amounts of money.

A falcon can be bought in Karachi for Rs150,000 and can be sold in Peshawar for up to Rs250,000.

The buyer in Peshawar may train these falcons to hunt and sell the trained birds to Arabs for a whopping Rs700,000.

The hunters, mostly Arabs from the UAE, use falcons to hunt deer and the migratory Houbara Bustard, said Bhagat. When the hunter releases the falcon in the forest, it attacks the deer’s eye, making it easier for the hunter to kill the animal. Similarly, when hunting the Houbara Bustard, the falcon clings to the bird and injures it with its claws until the hunter lures him away with a piece of meat.

Meanwhile, cranes are usually smuggled so people can put them in their private zoos. Sometimes, they are cooked as well, Bhagat added.

Officials in the wildlife department have yet to find out where the detained men bought these birds from.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 14th, 2010.

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