RAHIM YAR KHAN: District Wildlife Department officials arrested on Wednesday poachers for capturing water birds in a water creek of the Indus River near Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Bridge, Chahchran Sharif, some 67 kilometers from here.

District Wildlife Officer (DWO) Asim Kamran told Dawn that some poachers, of Chachran Sharif, were using grey herons’ calling to lure and capture great egrets and dab chicks.

The hunters had stitched the eyes of grey herons with thread and they also tied stuffed heron toys on their heads in the water to deceive the birds to come to them. They would capture birds with bare hands.

He added that the hunters told him that the meat of dab chicks would make a great dinner while the oil of great egrets was used for the treatment of joint and muscle pain.

The DWO seized the birds and challaned the arrested people under various sections of the Wildlife Act.

Published in Dawn, April 9th, 2020