LAHORE: A team of Punjab wildlife department headed by its director general seized birds of different kinds during raids on shops involved in illegal trade of birds and animals at Tollinton Market here on Sunday.

According to a handout, the raids were conducted on the orders of Senior Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb.

It says that the Wildlife Red Squad led by the DG took into possession birds and animals from various shops in the market. Model Town assistant commissioner, who was accompanying the wildlife officials, sealed the shops involved in illegal trade of animals.

During the raid, two seagulls, seven black partridges, nine brown partridges, five cuckoos, 10 ducks, and two monkeys were seized from different shops. The raiding team also recovered 12 parrots, 22 red parrots, 23 Bengali parrots, 10 young ‘raa’ parrots and 12 young red parrots. The team also recovered three dead black partridges.

As per the handout, the senior minister ordered strict implementation of the wildlife laws. Earlier, eight sick black bears had been seized in a raid, which are undergoing treatment being provided by a team of vets belonging to the International Organization for Animal Protection (OIPA). These bears will be moved to their natural habitat after completion of the treatment, the handout says.

It says that the OIPA team had arrived in Pakistan on the request of Islamabad Wildlife Management Board for providing treatment to the bears. The team comprises Director Operations Dr Amir Khalil, Dr Avunova, Dr Frank Goratis and Dr Valezar Anglof.

Ms Aurangzeb, in a statement, said that only licence holding shopkeepers are permitted to buy and sell animals, adding that the Punjab government has decided to introduce a digital system to monitor animals’ trade. She added that only legal breeding and trade of animals will be allowed.

The senior minister said that a Wildlife Rescue Force is also being launched to protect wild animals.

She said that for the first time a province-wide survey is being launched to collect digital data of all kinds of wildlife in Punjab.

Published in Dawn, April 8th, 2024