Clipped wings: Eight cranes saved from being smuggled

The migratory birds were rescued from a bus stop near Sohrab Goth.

KARACHI: Officials of the Sindh wildlife department rescued eight cranes that were being smuggled last week.

Four of these rescued birds have been badly injured and might not be able to go back to the areas they came from. According to a wildlife official, the birds were kept in boxes and are very sick. “The smuggler escaped as he saw the team in the area,” he said.

“The birds were forcefully crammed into very small boxes and it almost paralysed their legs,” said the provincial conservator of the department, Javed Ahmed Maher. “We are trying our best to help them fly again.”

The sick birds were taken to Karachi Zoo on Thursday and have been shifted to the facility again after initial treatment. “They might fly,” hoped an official requesting anonymity. “They are unable to stand and are in pain.”

According to officials, most of these migratory birds are caught from parts of Balochistan that border Afghanistan. However, their market exists in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and smugglers use Sindh as the route due to transportation issues. They are fined whenever they are caught in Sindh.

These birds have been kept in a private facility near Northern Bypass with 37 other cranes which were rescued from the National Highway in October.

Since the capture of these birds, the wildlife department has been in contact with international organisations to learn about feeding and housing these birds during rehabilitation. Pakistan is among the signatories of the Convention on Migratory Species. “We are committed to taking measures for migratory birds,” said Maher.

Unfortunately, despite tall claims of the wildlife department for the preservation of birds and animals, the province still lacks a rehabilitation centre for such birds and animals. They are kept in makeshift arrangements or in private facilities for a temporary period as they cannot be housed anywhere for a long period of time.

The migratory birds are caught when they enter into Pakistan’s soil or when they are flying back to their destination. According to sources, hundreds of such birds are being smuggled but the government only rescues a few of them.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 20^th, 2015.