Poached and rescued: 504 turtles released at Head Balloki

Endangered spotted pond turtles were seized at Lahore Airport

LAHORE:

“A small pond turtle is sold for $250. The consignment of 504 turtles caught at Allama Iqbal Airport on Tuesday night would have fetched USD126,000. The fine imposed on the culprits is a fraction of the market price these turtles would have fetched,” said Worldwide Wildlife Fund Bio-Diversity Director Uzma Khan, director at a ceremony organised to release the confiscated turtles at Head Balloki.

The ceremony was organised by the WWF Pakistan and the Wildlife Department Punjab.

IUCN Tortoises and Freshwater Turtles Specialist Group member Uzma Noureen said recently the Sindh government had started fining those found smuggling these – upto Rs12,000 for each live turtle and Rs20,000 for a dead turtle.

She said it had also introduced imprisonment for smuggling of protected species.  She urged the Punjab Wildlife Department to amend its laws to prevent trafficking of endangered animals.

Wildlife and Parks Director General Khalid Ayaz Khan said people caught from the airport on Tuesday night were merely carriers and not masterminds of the smuggling operation. He said they had been fined Rs300,000.

He said the Wildlife Department was working on raising awareness against illegal capture and smuggling of such animals.

He said this trend had become increasingly common. He said the government was planning on enhancing punishment to so that it became a deterrent.

He said the Wildlife Department had already identified stalls set up for sale of illegally captured turtles. He said a crackdown had been launched against them.

According to WWF research, 1,279 turtles have been confiscated in similar cases in Pakistan since 2013. This consignment of 504 turtles was the largest to date.

As many as 172 turtles were released by officials at Head Balloki on Friday.

The river provides a natural habitat for the turtles to flourish.

Wildlife officials said the turtles would eventually swim downstream to Sulemanki. The remaining turtles would be released at Taunsa Barrage on Saturday (today). The turtles belong to the spotted-pond species.

Trade in such turtles is prohibited under international and national laws, as they are listed as a protected species in the Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flaura, and are also listed in Schedule 1 (protected animals) under the Wildlife Act 1974 (Amended 2007).

Published in The Express Tribune, April 25^th, 2015.