LAHORE, April 4: Freshwater turtles continue to be stalked despite the fact that the species is fast moving towards extinction in the country.

Of late, the Punjab Wildlife Department has confiscated over 300 kilo dry parts of turtles and later burnt them at the University of Veterinary and Animal sciences (UVAS), officials told Dawn.

They said the consignment of soft shell freshwater turtle parts was confiscated on Bund Road in February last from illegal traders. The consignment had 26 boxes and five bags containing turtle parts to be used for economic gains.

The department, officials said, fined Rs100,000 to the illegal hunters (traders) and constituted a committee to decide the fate of the parts. The committee, headed by Punjab Wildlife Department Director Qadeer Mehal, had representatives from different departments and organisations such as the World Wide Fund for Nature, the Forest Department and the UVAS. It decided that the parts should be incinerated at the veterinary university.

Conservation Programme (WWF) Manager Uzma Khan, one of the members on the committee, explained that Pakistan was a signatory to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITE) which says: “The endangered species, if confiscated, should be dealt with the way they could not be marketed again.” That’s why, she said, the parts of freshwater turtles were incinerated.

She said freshwater turtles were being illegally exported to different Asian countries and were used in traditional Chinese medicines. The species could only be exported under a special permit for research, she added.

According to the Pakistan Wetland Programme, “turtle trade is a recent phenomenon in Pakistan. Illegal trade in turtle parts was first reported in 2006. Four kinds of soft shell turtles exist in Pakistan. Three species -- Ganges soft shell turtles, peacock soft shell turtles and Indian narrow-headed soft shell turtles -- are threatened owing to illegal hunting.”

These species are provided with a soft flap-like piece covering the sides and hinder part of the soft shell, and chest pellicle which are exported to China, considered for delicate food as well as for medicinal and other uses.

The earliest known turtles date from 215 million years ago, making these one of the oldest reptile groups and a more ancient group than lizards and snakes. About 300 species are alive today, and some are highly endangered. Turtles cannot breathe in water, but they can hold their breath for various periods of time.