ISLAMABAD: Because of the rising demand for hunting falcons from the Gulf countries, the trapping of Saker and Peregrine falcons has become a booming business across Pakistan.
Experts have expressed the fear that if timely steps are not taken to control the illegal business, smuggling of threatened birds would further go up.
“A couple of years back, rich people in the UAE had invested heavily on establishment of a falcon-breeding farm in their country with the help of a European firm,” said an official of the Punjab wildlife department.
“But the project failed because though the farm-bred falcons were healthy, beautiful and obedient, they lacked the killing skills of the hunter.”
As a result, the hunters in the Gulf states have again turned towards the smugglers and trappers.
The Punjab wildlife department this year caught and released 164 falcons but the haul included 105 falcons apprehended from one operation from Faisalabad in November.
“Our staff noticed boxes being unloaded from an ambulance near the VIP area of Faisalabad airport,” said an official of the department, adding: “They were planning to load the illegally-trapped falcons into a special plane.” The haul was an eye-opener for the authorities too as it proved that the smugglers were using smaller airports and isolated locations for the flight of these endangered hunting birds.
The previous preferred location was the Islamabad airport but due strict monitoring and presence of too many security departments here, the smuggling has become difficult from this location.
The federal government imposed a total ban on trapping and trading of falcons in 2005, as these birds had been declared endangered and protected under several international conventions to which Islamabad is a signatory.
The birds caught in the haul by the authorities in Faisalabad have already been released in the Kalar Kahar Salt Range.
Most of the birds recovered from the smugglers are released in Kalar Kahar because the area has rugged terrain and the presence of many security areas in the Chakwal and Khushab districts makes trapping and hunting difficult in these districts. “Apart from being a safe area, Kalar Kahar also falls on the migratory route of these falcons,” said an official of the department.
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