KARACHI: Pakistan Customs officials caught a wildlife trafficker and seized five falcons of highly rare and endangered species from his possession at the airport, it emerged on Thursday.

Sources said the migratory birds saker and peregrine kept in two wooden boxes were being carried illegally to Dubai through an Emirates airline flight (EK 609) late Wednesday evening when they were seized.

The sources said the passenger, Shaukat Ali, arrived at the Jinnah international terminal with the two wooden boxes, arousing suspicion about the consignment. The custom staffers at the international departure lounge got suspicious and checked the boxes. Subsequently,the passenger was asked to show documents for carrying the migratory rare species falcons out of the country, the customs staffers told Dawn.

They said the passenger did not have official documents, which allowed him to transport the falcons.

The customs assistant collector, Raza Naqvi, said the falcons were seized. According to him, legal proceedings have been initiated against the wildlife trafficker, Shaukat Ali, under Section 16 of the Customs Act, 1969, read with Export Policy Order 2013, as well as passengers` baggage rules 2006.

The falcons have been handed over to Sindh wildlife department staffers.

Responding to Dawn queries, wildlife conservator Javed Mahar said the falcons three saker and two peregrine were brought to theoffice and initial examination showed that they were tired and fatigued. He said it was not yet clear as to when the birds had been caught from the wild and how many days they had been kept in captivity.

Besides, it was also not known for how long the birds had been kept in the small wooden boxes.

He said the falcons would be kept at a safe place in the wildlife department for a few days allowing them to fully recover before being released back into the wild.

Resident of colder central Asian regions, the highly rare and endangered species of falcons saker and peregrine followed the migratory birds, including the internationally protected houbara bustard, which leave their habitat to spend winters in Pakistan. The migratory falcon species are trapped in large numbers here, as they are highly sought afterby the Arab sheikhs who come to Pakistan to hunt houbara bustard with falcons.

Since the falcons are protected under the local as well as international nature conservation laws, trapping and trading of falcons is banned under the laws. But owing to poor implementation of laws black wildlife markets flourish.

Here in the black market, a good falcon fetches between Rs500,000 and Rs1 million while it is sold between Rs5 million and Rs10 million in the wildlife marl(ets of the Gulf states.

Because of the high demand for falcons by the Arab sheikhs, the birds though protected under the law are trapped in large numbers owing to which their population was shrinking and the species were getting rarer and endangered facing extinction threat.