Wildlife at risk

The deaths of some ducks may seem a minor matter, but the incident highlights the precarious state of wildlife.

There are conflicting reports about both the numbers and reasons for the death of migratory ducks found at Tarbela Lake. The Wildlife Department says that there are only six dead Siberian ducks, but local residents say that anything between ‘dozens’ and ‘hundreds’ have died. An unnamed farmer claims that they were poisoned by somebody seeking to protect their growing wheat crop. Other migratory species that frequent the lake at this time of year were apparently unaffected — which adds to the mystery. The bodies of the birds have been sent to a laboratory in Peshawar in order to determine the cause of death. If the birds are found to have been poisoned and the culprit identified then they could be prosecuted under the Wildlife Act of 1975; and if found guilty could be fined or receive a custodial sentence — or both.

Although the deaths of some ducks may seem a minor matter to some, the incident does highlight the precarious state of wildlife in general. Pakistan is a very unsafe country if you belong to an endangered species or have a rarity value on the trophy market. The recent ‘disappearance’ of a number of valuable deer from the Lal Suhanra National Park close to Bahawalpur is presumed to be the work of either animal smugglers or people wanting to harvest their horns. The questionable value to the nation of allowing foreign nationals to hunt the rare Houbara Bustard every year is viewed with concern by international agencies concerned with conservation. There are reports that lynxes have extended their range to an area close to Murree, with supporting photographic evidence of this. Fortunately the snow leopard, indigenous to Gilgit-Baltistan, does appear to be adequately protected and the population is stable, but it is a rare point of light in an otherwise gloomy picture of wildlife protection and conservation. The dead ducks on Tarbela Lake are unlikely to have died of natural causes, and the government has no lesser responsibility of duty-of-care to wildlife than it does to the human population.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 2^nd, 2014.

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