‘Highly endangered’: Wildlife dept seizes Sesi partridges

Bird sold for up to Rs20,000 in black market.

PESHAWAR:

The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Forestry, Environment and Wildlife department seized four highly endangered Sesi partridges along with Chukar and black partridges from shops at Bacha Khan Chowk on Sunday.

In raids

While talking to The Express Tribune, sub-division forest offer (SDFO) Sardar Ali said the Sesi partridge is regarded as a highly-endangered species because of excessive hunting. “The bird is hunted for its meat, which is considered a delicacy in the region,” he added. The bird is also protected under the law.

“I think these birds were netted somewhere in Lakki Marwat and DI Khan, and brought to Peshawar for sale,” said the SDFO. “A pair of these birds could easily help you earn about Rs20,000 in the black market as they are a rare find,” he added. Sesi partridges are native to the hinterlands and semi-mountainous parts of the province. They were once abundant in Balochistan but they have become endangered there due to excessive hunting.

“Additionally, we seized two Chukar and two black partridges,” he said, adding that Chukar bird was also becoming endangered in the province due to netting and hunting along with black partridges.

Kohat bird rescue

A press release issued on Sunday stated Kohat DFO Sajjad Ali has formed various raid parties to bust activities involving illegal hunting of endangered birds. A team formed by Wildlife Officer Rahmatullah Khan, caught dozens of people recently for violating the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Wildlife and Biodiversity (Protection, Preservation, Conservation and Management) Act, 2015 and penalised them with a fine on the spot.

A few days ago, Kohat SDFO Shabbir Ahmad caught more than 20 influential persons in raids at Darwazai Dam and areas surrounding Kohat, for illegally hunting birds. They confiscated their hunting weapons. Ahmad also imposed a fine on them under the aforementioned act.

Relevant authorities all over the province will continue raids on illegal hunting activities, stated the handout. No one, no matter how “influential” he or she is, “will be spared,” it read.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 5^th, 2015.