LAHORE: During the ongoing operations of the Punjab Wildlife & Parks Department, 20 individuals involved in the illegal hunting and possession of falcons, doves, quails, hares and wild boars havebeen apprehended.

During these operations, a monkey and 16 wild birds were recovered, while several netting gears and hunting equipment were confiscated. Eleven offenders were fined Rs530,000, whereas FIRs were registered against nine persons.

According to details, Lahore wildlife rangers claimed to have recovered a monkey allegedly being illegally kept by an individual in Faisal Town, Lahore. The rescued animal was subse-quently shifted to Jallo Park, while an FIR was registered against the suspect.

In another operation, Kasur wildlife rangers apprehended a hunter involved in the illegal netting of wild birds and imposed a fine of Rs20,000.

Similarly, wildlife rangers, after several days of continuous surveillance, claimed to have caught four hunters red-handed while illegally trapping falcons.

The team recovered three kestrels, 11 pigeons, 17 trapping nets, including padam and dogaza nets, one gas cylinder, four mobile phones and a motorcycle from their possession.

Similar operations were conducted in different areas of Gujranwala, Rawalpindi, Multan, Chakwal, Jhelum, Pakpattan and Okara.