Bid to smuggle 70 rare turtles foiled

Rawalpindi: The Wildlife and Parks Department has foiled a bid to smuggle 70 rare turtles during on-the-spot checking carried out on the College Road in line with the directives of Director General Khalid Ayaz Khan.

The team of the Wildlife and Parks Department stopped a motorcyclist who fled away from the scene leaving behind a plastic bag carrying endangered species of turtles. These are the freshwater turtles found in the Potohar region of Pakistan and their lives are now in danger as they have been kept away from their natural habitat for quite long.

These species of turtles have been categorized as ‘threatened’ under the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and are in high demand in China for their skin and meat. One turtle is sold for around Rs150,000.

According to the World Wide Fund for Nature, the business of turtle smuggling started 15 years ago and it has driven eight kinds of turtles to the verge of extinction, including the black-pond turtle. The soft shell and the hard shell turtles have almost disappeared.

A survey conducted by a senior wetlands biologist, poverty is the only reason for people’s involvement in this trade and these people are willing to leave the business if any other livelihood opportunity is provided to them.