Smuggled over water: Where there is Houbara Bustard, there is money

Pakistani authorities learnt the protected birds were being smuggled to Bahrain


Sameer Mandhro April 08, 2015

KARACHI:


Hunting and smuggling of the protected Houbara Bustards in Pakistan can be extremely tricky.


With the government and its officials constantly under pressure to stop Arab dignitaries from hunting the bird, smugglers have come up with new ways to smuggle the rare Houbara Bustards out of the country and keep their business afloat.

Around a week ago on March 31, the government got to know just what was happening under its nose when they received a letter from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites).

The sea route

In November last year, the Iranian Navy apprehended a boat carrying 142 falcons (Falco cherrug, Falco pelegrinoides and Falco peregrines) along with 240 Asian Houbara Bustards (Chlamydotis macqueenii) from its territorial waters within the Gulf of Oman.

A source informed The Express Tribune that all these birds had been poached from the wild and were being transported without any legal documents.

The boat, according to the source, had started its journey from Pakistan and was bound for Bahrain. The offenders, he said, are currently under trial and are being dealt with according to Iranian law as they had no legal documents to transport the protected birds. The source added that most of the smugglers use the Balochistan coast for their business as it is a safe sea route to transport the birds to Arab states and neighbouring countries.

In March 2015, the Pakistani authorities became aware of this route for the first time. "This is an illegal trading route that is being used for years but no one ever got caught," said an official who did not wish to be named. "Before this, we [the Government of Pakistan] had not been informed of such cases." He added that the Iranian authorities had not shared this information with Pakistan either.

Talking to The Express Tribune, the official said that the conservationists were against Arab dignitaries hunting. "It looks like a deliberate attempt by smugglers to divert the attention of conservationists, the media and those who love wildlife," he said, adding that Arabs hunting the rare birds were the least of their worries. "This is a major threat. It is not just another smuggling case."

Sources claim that the Pakistani authorities, including the wildlife and climate change ministries, are under immense pressure from international organisations to protect rare birds and other species in the country. Officials from Cites have asked the Pakistani and Bahrain authorities to contact Iranian officials to find out more details about the case. Instead of contacting the Government of Pakistan, Iranian authorities contacted Cites secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland, who then wrote to the Pakistani government, informing them about what had happened.

As the smuggled birds are migratory, the Pakistani authorities cannot ask the Iranian government to hand them over. According to an official from the federal government, Pakistan can approach any country to return confiscated birds only if they are native birds.

On the value of these confiscated rare birds, the official said that they were worth billions. "These are rare species," he said. "Those who are will to take such a big risk won't just do it for a couple of thousands."

Sources told The Express Tribune that the ministry of climate change will contact their counterparts in Iran and Bahrain for more information regarding the offence and suspects. At the moments, the authorities are not aware of how many smugglers are in the custody of Iran.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 9th, 2015.

COMMENTS (2)

Zafar | 8 years ago | Reply Do you really think they are worried ? Nope. It is the shame brought by Iranina authorities that prompt our so-called officials to issue statements over statements.
non fascist | 8 years ago | Reply A country, where babies and girls are smuggled with impunity, is worried about mere birds. Wah.
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