Illegal hunting: Four jailed for not paying fines

MULTAN:

Four of the 15 men fined for illegal hunting of a rare bird species were on Friday sent to the Rahim Yar Khan central jail on their failure to pay the fine.

The 11 others were set free after they deposited Rs30,000 each with the Wildlife Department. They belonged to Tank area of North Waziristan, Loralai in Balochistan and Dera Ismail Khan in K-P. Separately, several civil society organisations in Rahim Yar Khan protested what they said was a penalty not commensurate to the crime. Hadi Alam Organisation general secretary Tahir Boota said the birds could be sold at three times the amount required to be paid in fines under the Wildlife Protection Act of 1971. He demanded that revisions be introduced to the law to make it effective.

District Officer Ayub said they were using all resources available to prevent poaching.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 28^th, 2015.