On May 19, 2022, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) banned the import and export of falcons, while seeking a list of rare breed animals.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs gives temporary permission for import and then they are also exported, the lawyer told the court. By importing old falcons, they export our young falcons, the lawyer added.
When imports are allowed, they bring in animals and breed them, the records of which are with the provinces, said a representative of the Ministry of Climate Change.
A falcon was gifted with the approval of the country’s chief executive when the United Arab Emirates’s (UAE) request came, the Deputy Attorney General told the Court.
Giving this gift does not fall into the category of trade, he contended.
The court asked how the chief executive could do something illegal. It also sought a list of rare animal breeds.
There is also illegal animal trafficking, a representative of the Ministry of Climate Change said.
“Can giraffes be smuggled?” the Court asked. “How many animals or giraffes died in Peshawar Zoo?”
Meanwhile, the Sindh High Court (SHC) has also issued notices to the Punjab Wildlife & Parks Department, Lahore zoo management and others on a petition seeking an inquiry into import of mona monkey, a monkey species native to western Africa.
The petitioner, Nasir Khan, proprietor of Nasir trading, submitted in the petition that a private company had approached him for the arrangement of 16 mona monkeys for Afghanistan which he provided to their authorized dealer in Afghanistan. He said that these Mona monkeys were then smuggled to Pakistan by the private respondent who later handed them over to the Lahore Zoo management. He submitted that the respondent did not make payment of monkeys which he brought to Afghanistan for breeding purposes but illegally smuggled to Pakistan.
The petitioner submitted that the private respondent had committed an offense under the Customs Act and breached the provisions of the Pakistan Trade Control of Wild Fauna and Flora Act.
He claimed that the private respondent did not treat the monkeys properly. As a result, some of them died due to lack of proper care. The Sindh High Court was requested to direct the Federal Government and the Punjab Wildlife Department to conduct an inquiry with regard to the award of bid in favor of the private respondent for providing mona monkeys to the Lahore Zoo and cancel the NOCs after taking necessary penal action against the private respondent.
A division bench of the high court headed by Justice Arshad Hussain Khan after a preliminary hearing of the petition issued notices to the Punjab Wildlife Department, Lahore zoo and others and called for their comments.