GILGIT, May 6: Eighty falcons confiscated from smugglers in the UAE will on Friday be released in the region of northern Pakistan, officials said. The UAE on Thursday returned the birds which were flown to Gilgit aboard a UAE air force plane.
Officials said the falcons would be freed on Friday at the 16,000-feet Khunjerab pass which links Pakistan and China's northwest Xinjiang region. "Eighty falcons will be set free in the Khunjerab by Falcon International Organization (a non-governmental organization)," said World Wildlife Federation official Ali Ahmed Jan.
He said the birds were captured in northern Pakistan and China and were smuggled to UAE where they were seized by authorities. -AFP
