KARACHI: Dried parts of dozens of freshwater turtles were recovered from a Hong Kong-bound consignment at the airport export cargo offices on Tuesday, wildlife department officials told Dawn.

According to these officials, the parts weighing around 16kg belonged to 68 Indian narrow-headed softshell turtles (Chitra indica) listed as an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

All species of turtles and tortoises are protected under provincial wildlife laws.

Sharing details about the confiscation, wildlife inspector deputed at the airport Mukhtiar Soomro said the consignment by A. Razzak from Karachi came through the Pakistan Post office.

“Finding it suspicious, the Anti-Narcotics Force contacted us to look into the case,” he said, adding that a case had been registered under the wildlife laws and the department would investigate it further.

Adnan Hamid Khan, a senior wildlife official dealing with cases of illegal wildlife trafficking particularly of turtles, said that Chitra indica was only the second species after the Indian flapshell turtle (Lissemys punctata), another freshwater species, which had fringes.

“That helped us in its identification. Unlike the Indian flapshell turtle which is rare and found in the upper range of Chashma barrage, the narrow-headed softshell turtles are commonly found along the Indus River,” he explained, adding that the turtles in the consignment would be around 15 to 18 years old.

According to him, dried turtle parts are considered a delicacy in South-East Asian countries, besides being used for medicinal purposes.

“One important step to check illegal wildlife trade is to set up wildlife counters at all entry and exist points for land and sea trade routes. Right now, we don’t have any access to these places unless another agency operating there contacts us for assistance,” he said.

According to experts, illicit wildlife trade of freshwater turtles is escalating in Pakistan as there have been a number of cases in which these animals, particularly the black pond species, have been confiscated in large numbers in recent years. Poaching and smuggling of freshwater turtles due to their demand in East Asian countries, particularly China, Hong Kong, South Korea and Vietnam, has led to a significant decline in their populations, they believe.

“Freshwater turtles of Pakistan are found in the entire Indus River system including its tributaries, irrigation canals, ponds and water reservoirs. Pakistan has eight species of freshwater turtles which dominate aquatic habitats.

“Turtles play a significant role in aquatic ecosystem being scavengers; they are responsible for cleaning the aquatic environment by feeding upon dead organic material and diseased fish. Freshwater turtles being a keystone species also control the population of fish,” says the World Wide Fund for Nature-Pakistan website.

Published in Dawn, September 20th, 2017