KARACHI: The Sindh wildlife department has confiscated 78 common cranes and arrested three poachers in a raid on a passenger bus near the Hyderabad toll plaza.

The poachers, identified as Sanaullah, Qudratullah and Mohammad Illyas Khan, belong to the Lakki Marwat district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The birds, being kept in the SWD office premises in Hyderabad, would be released later in the Indus delta.

“We have released the offenders after recovering a fine of Rs50,000. They told us that they were taking the birds to Peshawar where they would sell them to dealers,” said Hyderabad deputy conservator wildlife Ghulam Mohammad.

He added that the SWD office had the space to keep wild animals.

The SWD official conceded that the fine was too low given the fact that the market price of these birds was much higher. “In Karachi, a pair is priced around Rs20,000. But we can’t fine them more as the amount is fixed under the law,” he explained.

Upon contact, provincial wildlife conservator Javed Ahmed Mahar said that common cranes during their migration to India from colder climates stayed in Pakistan for a while but were often trapped or killed by poachers.

“There is a large wetland in India along the border where these birds are protected and fed by local population. But, unfortunately, they are targeted here,” he said.

Published in Dawn, October 21st, 2014