KARACHI: Fishermen looking for tuna off Paradise Point recently caught and released a rare species pigeon, World Wide Fund for Nature-Pakistan (WWF-P) officials stated on Wednesday.

The bird, identified as Namaqua dove (Oena capensis), which is a small pigeon species, has been reported in the country for the first time.

`It was a male, evident from its very long and graduated tail and conspicuous black face, chin, throat and front of the breast. The bird was released when the fishing boat approached the Karachi port,` said WWF-P Northern Indian Ocean Coordinator Umair Shahid, while describing the report as `interesting`.

According to him, though the species is known to be distributed in the immediate vicinity of Pakistan, ie Oman and Iran, it has never been reported from Balochistan or any other parts of the country before.The bird was spotted by captain Ikramuddin while navigating a tuna gillnet fishing boat off Paradise Point four days ago.

The crew managed to catch the long-tailed bird perched on the vessel`s mast. Later, they released it after which it flew towards the Manora Fort.

The dove is a widespread resident breeding bird in Sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar with its range extending into the Arabian Peninsula southern Israel, Jordan and as far north as Turkey.

The present report from Pakistan, according to experts, extends the distribution range of the species although it may be a straggler.

`Its presence in the near shore area and Acacia laden and thorny fields between Cape Monz and Paradise Point is similar to its natural habitat in Asia and Africa, Shahid observed.

No attempt was made to feed the bird which was found to be very active. `It was not exhausted unlike many birds which take shelter on fishing boats in offshore waters.