Vulture population shows tentative signs of recovery in Pakistan

BY AGENCIES , (LAST UPDATED OCTOBER 31, 2019)

KARACHI: Once a prime candidate for extinction, the population of vultures in Pakistan has shown tentative signs of recovery in the past five years, but nature’s “garbage disposal” is still facing looming threats on several fronts, experts said.

The population of several species of vulture started declining in the mid-1990s due to the ingestion of livestock carcasses containing residues of deadly cattle drugs.

Apart from drugs, food shortages, and an increase in tree felling, especially those with vulture nests, have all been important contributors in the declining number of vultures.

The critically endangered oriental white-rumped vulture (Gyps bengalensis) and long-billed vulture (Gyps indicus) have declined across most of their range by over 95% since the mid-1990s, according to a recent report published by the Pakistan chapter of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

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Birds migrating from Siberia to Pakistan decline 70% this winter: report

Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-11 21:45:39|Editor: xuxin

ISLAMABAD, Feb. 11 (Xinhua) -- The number of migratory birds from Siberia to Pakistan has declined 70 percent this winter, mainly due to climatic change and human activities, local reports said on Monday.

The harsh winter in Russia forces birds to leave their home in search of warmer places, and Pakistan is one of such destinations where these birds including some rare species stop by.

The migratory birds arrive in Pakistan at the end of August every year via Afghanistan, and leave in February. They all move back to their native lands by March.

Pakistan has 19 sites where birds land, 10 of which are located in south Sindh province. The migratory birds temporarily stop in Thatta, Rann of Kutch and Thar coastal areas of Sindh, from where they gradually spread to other lakes, Express Tribune reported.

Quoting World Wildlife Fund Technical advisor Moazzam Khan, the paper said that less rainfall, dried up water passages and the changing of locations are the major reasons for the decline on the guest birds.

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Rare bird is the talk of a Halifax retirement home

Chukars are the national bird of Iraq and Pakistan, but one is now calling the Parkland Clayton Park home

Richard Woodbury · CBC News · Posted: Jan 19, 2019 6:00 AM AT | Last Updated: January 19

A bird that's a long way from home is being welcomed with open arms by residents at a Halifax retirement complex.

Last summer, a chukar appeared outside the Parkland Clayton Park and has remained there ever since. The red-billed partridge has since been named Clayton, a nod to the Clayton Park neighbourhood where the retirement facility is located.

Chukars are the national birds of Iraq and Pakistan, and are native to the Middle East and southern Asia. According to the National Audubon Society, they were brought as a game bird to North America and have thrived in some arid regions in the western U.S.

"We have no idea how he got here, but you know, he seems to be faring well so far and he's certainly being well fed and well looked after," said Jennifer Shannon, the general manager at Parkland Clayton Park.

Clayton can generally be found somewhere in the courtyard, which is enveloped by the retirement buildings.

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Licensed hunters killing birds in droves across Rahim Yar Khan

By Farooq Sindhu

Published: July 9, 2018

RAHIM YAR KHAN: Licensed hunters are taking advantage of the seasonal migration of birds and hunting well beyond the permitted numbers. They are preying on birds such as Talair, green parrots, Lali and wild birds, locals in villages told Express News. They blamed the mafia for the activity.

Villagers said lenient wildlife laws were allowing hunting groups to take advantage of the situation and hunt native birds in excess. After profiteering from green parrots, which have virtually disappeared over the years, hunters are killing Lali, another native bird that can be seen in the open around the region.

They maintained that the hunters extend long bird traps in the fields to catch snakes and Lali, a bird whose meat is in large demand in the food and restaurant industry. They revealed the hunters usually operate in remote areas so that they can get a large catch without being noticed.

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New restrictions on vulture-killing drugs in Pakistan

15/06/2018

Vulture populations in South Asia have collapsed by over 95 per cent since the mid-1990s. The primary cause of this catastrophic decline, and still an ongoing threat, is the ingestion by vultures of livestock carcasses containing non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), principally diclofenac. Although diclofenac was banned from veterinary use in Pakistan, India and Nepal in 2006, other NSAIDs such as aceclofenac and ketoprofen still pose a major threat to Critically Endangered vultures.

WWF-Pakistan and the Hawk Conservancy Trust in the UK have been partners on the Pakistan Vulture Restoration Project (PVRP) to conserve vultures in Pakistan for the past 12 years. The project consists of a vulture breeding centre in Punjab province and a community-led vulture safe zone in Sindh province, where some of Pakistan's last remaining colonies of Critically Endangered White-rumped and Slender-billed Vultures are found.

PVRP has continued lobbying for the removal of veterinary drugs which are unsafe for vultures. In a recent letter to the Department of Health for Sindh, the Secretary was urged to restrict the distribution of ketoprofen and aceclofenac in Sindh's Vulture Safe Zone. As a result, the Chief Drug Inspector of Sindh ordered all regional and district drug inspectors to restrict the use of these drugs.

Muhammad Jamshed Iqbal at WWF-Pakistan said: "NSAIDs such as ketoprofen and aceclofenac have proven to be fatal for Gyps vultures in clinical trials and their restriction in the Sindh will contribute significantly in the survival of the remaining populations of Gyps vultures in Pakistan."

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Trichomonosis discovered amongst myna birds in Pakistan

Date:  April 23, 2018

Source:  University of East Anglia

Summary:

A strain of the disease responsible for killing nearly two thirds of the UK's greenfinch population has spread to myna birds in Pakistan. In 2011, the disease was discovered to have reached European finch populations. Now it has been found in an entirely separate songbird species -- the common myna, native to India and one of the world's most invasive species. Although it is not generally fatal to them, they may pass it on to other species.

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Bahrain returns over 1,000 rare birds smuggled from Pakistan

Tariq Abul Hasan

March 10, 2017

 
Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Over a thousand rare birds, including baby parrots and nightingales, were smuggled on March 5 to Bahrain in the guise of lovebirds and Australian parrots by collusion of government departments.

Pakistan bars export of parrots and nightingales.

Bahrain authorities on finding about the scam stopped the smuggler from carrying the birds to the country and sent the shipment back to Pakistan on March 8. Dozens of birds died due to starvation.

Officials of the customs and wildlife department as well as a veterinary doctor of a government department were involved in the scam. The individuals, instead of returning the shipment back to the wildlife department, declared the birds as imports and gave the birds back to the importer. No inquiry was conducted against the importer either.

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1,040 captive-bred Houbara to be released in Punjab

Shakeb Adnan Qaiser

March 02, 2017
Pakistan

LAHORE: The government will release a total of 1,040 houbara bustards into the wild in order to augment Pakistan’s current population of the species in the wild.

The birds that were imported from Abu Dhabi will be released into the wild in Bahawalpur in accordance with a contract between the governments of Pakistan and Abu Dhabi.  

According to the Wildlife Protection Department the first batch of 500 birds reached Pakistan Thursday. The birds will be transported to Bahawalpur’s Lal Suhanra National Park today.  

In a statement, the Wildlife Protection Department said it will ensure the protection of the released birds. The department’s higher officials said houbaras are released at the Lal Suhanra National Park each year.

The department assured that the contract to release the birds is not associated with the hunting of the rare and precious bird found in certain parts of Pakistan.

Earlier in February this year, the Punjab government told the Lahore High Court that the houbara bustard had been removed from the list of protected birds.

The Wildlife Department’s report cited a survey conducted in December that indicated a substantial increase in the bird’s population.

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Convoy of Qatari royal hunting rare bird attacked in southwestern Pakistan

Mon Jan 16, 2017 2:3PM

A Qatari royal family member on an expedition to hunt rare birds using falcons has come under attack by a group of villagers in Pakistan's southwestern province of Balochistan, officials say.

Muhammad Yasar, a local Pakistani official, said on Monday that three security guards were wounded after a group of villagers brandishing guns and knives attacked the convoy of a Qatari royal family member on Sunday evening in the Musakhel district of the troubled province.

"A case has been registered against 25 people," Yasar said.

Arab sheikhs regularly travel to Pakistan to hunt the houbara bustards using falcons.

Meanwhile, a Qatari official involved in the sport of falconry confirmed the assault by a large group of men on the convoy of hunters, which included a royal family member. He, however, declined to identify the individual.

"Qatari hunters apply and pay for government hunting permits and donate to local communities and wildlife conservation," the Qatari official said, adding, "Unfortunately there have been attacks led by armed groups."

The Pakistani government began issuing permits to houbara hunters for royals from the Persian Gulf countries in the 1970s. The move was initially seen as a way to forge diplomatic ties with them after rival India imposed a ban on hunting the birds.

In 2014, a Saudi prince illegally hunted more than 2,000 houbara bustards, which are protected under Pakistani law. The Saudi prince went on a hunting spree for rare birds in province of Balochistan.

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Pakistani birds caught up in international intrigue

By Pamela Constable December 11 at 11:50 AM 

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — If any further proof were needed that geopolitical intrigue can stalk the humblest of Pakistan’s inhabitants, consider the recent cases of two Pakistani birds.

The first is a pigeon, a species that people all over the country raise on their rooftops as a simple, inexpensive pleasure and a brief escape from their daily struggles with poverty, corruption and clogged streets below. 

Some weeks ago, tensions were running especially high between Pakistan and its perennial rival India. The source was Kashmir, the disputed border region where Muslim protesters were blinded by pellet guns and Indian soldiers were burned to death in a late-night attack by insurgents. 

Into the fog of belligerent rhetoric between the nuclear powers wandered a white pigeon, which was caught and caged by Indian security forces in a border district adjoining Kashmir. 

According to Indian news agencies, the bird was suspected of having “Pakistani links” and was carrying a warning message for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The arresting officer posed with his feathered prisoner, and the image soon circulated on social media. 

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