KAR ACHI: In yet another operation against traffickers, the wildlife department staff in collaboration with the Rangers seized 40 laggar falcons and an owl from a Karachi-bound passenger bus at Toll Plaza, Jamshoro.

The birds, all endangered and protected under the wildlife law, had been put in the bus in Larkana.

The suspect is identified as Aashig Ali Siyal.

`He has told us that the birds were purchased from different people and were being brought to Karachi for sale,` said Hyderabad deputy director of wildlife department Ghulam Mohammad Gadani.

The suspect, he said, would be fined Rs15,000.

`Most birds earlier confiscated have been released: some in the Kotri barrage area while the others in the Khirther National Park, Mr Gadani said.

The wildlife department in Hyderabad has so far seized 124 birds from wildlife traffickers overthe past three weeks or so. A day earlier, around 200 shovelers, an endangered migratory bird, one of the first winter guests in Pakistan, were seized from a Karachi-bound passenger bus coming from Larkana.

Sources in the wildlife department said that wildlife smuggling had always been high in the country, but a major factor behind the recent seizure was the `efficient` role of the Rangers.

`The greatest obstacle to catch wildlife traders is the landlords who are assigned the role of game wardens in every district by the government.

`As it`s an election season, we are facing a lot of pressure and threats from influential people not to act in accordance with the law, a wildlife field officer said, adding the unarmed staff was taking part in operations by putting their life at risk.

Tortoises, turtles rescued Meanwhile, a team of the World Wide Fund for Nature-Pakistan(WWF-P) and the wildlife department rescued 62 tortoises and freshwater turtles, which were later released into the Hub Dam near Khar Centre in the Khirthar National Park.

The reptiles were noticed by some passers-by crossing the EBM Causewayin the Korangi Industrial area in Karachi who later informed the authorities. Twenty-five reptiles were found dead.

Both species of the rescued reptiles le Afghan or Central Asian tortoise (Testudo horsfieldii) and black pond turtle (Geoclemys hamiltonii) are protected under the Sindh Wildlife Protection Ordinance, 1972.

`It appears that the rescued turtles and tortoises were discarded by wildlife traders, fearing arrest from the wildlife department. A number of burlap bags were also discovered, indicating that the animals were transported to the area,` Naveed Ali Soomro representing the WWF-P said.

These species, he added, were not found in Karachi and were brought from other parts of the country.