Wildlife in Pakistan destroyed by government and civilians

Ernest Dempsey — Destruction of wildlife continues in Pakistan with and without the government’s permission. Today’s news report from Express Tribune tells about the killing of a leopard in Abbottabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, by a local who was angry at the leopard’s attacks on cattle. Instead of reporting the attacks to the authority, the civilian, whose name has not been revealed in the news, reportedly decided to poison the leopard and get rid of it.

The news also tells that after killing the leopard with poisoned meat, the local buried it secretly, last week. The “foul smell” emanating from the carcass buried in the area led to people discovering the leopard’s body. As told in the media report, the authorities have ordered an investigation into the incident – killing wildlife being illegal in the country.

[caption id="attachment_16905" align="alignright" width="239"] houbara bustard[/caption]

However, such killing is made legal by the Pakistani government itself when it comes to pleasing those in high positions. Just a couple of weeks ago, the federal government issued 30 special permits to Arab royalty that would allow them to hunt the already endangered  in the country. This “favor” was served to please members of royal families in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain, allowing them to hunt the endangered bird in three provinces of Pakistan.

Interestingly, it is reported that wildlife staff and “liaison officials” would also accompany the Arab hunters for monitoring and ensuring that the “code” for killing the wildlife is followed. In other words, a crime stops to be a crime when you do it with the government’s consent.

Wildlife, like other lives, remains unprotected in Pakistan and the laws exist only in name without implementation. Failure to monitor and protect wild leopards in Abbottabad and issuing hunting permits to Arabs for killing houbara bustard are just the tip of this horrific iceberg.