image sourceWWF Pakistan
- author, Muhammad Zubair Khan
- position, Journalist
Last month, a Facebook group for buying and selling antiques posted an ad that read ‘snow leopard skin for sale’.
That is, through this post, the skin of the endangered snow leopard was being sold in Pakistan.
The person who posted the ad on the social networking site said that if anyone is interested in buying the skin, they can contact them by sending a message to their inbox.
The notification of posting this advertisement also reached the Punjab Wildlife Department.
Officials of the Wildlife Department of Punjab Province say that an attempt to smuggle the valuable snow leopard skin was foiled and an accused was arrested.
The arrested accused confessed to the crime in the local magistrate’s court, after which he was released after imposing a fine of one lakh rupees on him. While this skin was confiscated by wildlife officials.
According to Punjab’s senior minister Maryam Aurangzeb, the fur is worth ‘at least $20,000’, which is more than five million Pakistani rupees.
In a message on X, he said, “This operation is part of the ongoing campaign against illegal wildlife trade.” He said that the snow leopard is facing the threat of extinction in Pakistan and their number is ‘only 400.
image sourceX/Marriyum_A
‘The officer approached as a customer’
According to Asim Kamran, Special Squad Assistant Director of Wildlife Punjab, it was not that easy to recover the skin and arrest the accused.
According to him, the accused was ‘very cunning’ who ‘twice failed attempts to arrest him.’
Mudassar Riaz, Director General of Wildlife Punjab, says, ‘This is the first case in the history of Punjab that the skin of a snow leopard has been caught here.’
According to him, he was informed that an attempt was being made to sell a valuable snow leopard skin, on which the department planned to act and according to Asim Kamran, ‘In the first attempt, a wildlife officer became the customer and he social Contacted the accused through the media.
But after some discussion, it was learned that the smugglers wanted to sell the fur abroad. He also had an idea of the prices of foreign furs.
According to the Director of Wildlife Punjab, he was offered Rs 12 lakh which the smugglers accepted but then ‘they got suspicious and cut off contact.’
‘We didn’t have much time,’ he explains. As another attempt, another officer was asked to approach as Kahag.
This time we felt that the accused was worried. He talked about giving this skin for 10 lakh rupees without much discussion and discussion.’
However, this plan also did not succeed because ‘the place where he said to meet, he did not reach that place and after that he deleted that post from social media as well.’
image sourceIslamabad Wildlife Management Board
‘Courier service used’ to smuggle furs
It was difficult for the wildlife department to trace the traffickers through social media. So they changed the method of investigation and ‘traced their number through the family of the accused.’
After identifying the accused, he was arrested, but he did not have the skin.
At that time he came to know that the accused had ordered the fur from Karachi to Lahore by courier before fearing arrest and now he was sending it back to Karachi from Lahore.
Interestingly, the service of a company called ‘Leopard Courier’ was being used to transport the leopard skin.
Abdul Halim, marketing director of Leopard Courier Service in Pakistan, admits that a parcel was booked by an ‘old customer’ to transport furs but was ‘misrepresented’ by the company.
He explains that when the order was prepared for transport, it was found to be a snow leopard skin and the order was canceled at that time.
Wildlife department official Asim Kamran says that his team along with the police raided the leopard’s office. ‘If we had delayed any longer, this skin would have been gone.’
On the other hand, according to Abdul Halim of Leopard Courier Service, his company has cooperated with the authorities in this matter and they are still ready for further cooperation.
image sourceShafqat Hussain
According to Asim Kamran, the fur was previously transported by another courier service and he wonders how the courier companies ‘receive the fur and then ensure its delivery.’
Meanwhile, according to the authorities, the accused confessed to the crime in the magistrate’s court, on which he was fined one lakh rupees due to the relaxation of the laws and the court also released him.
Accused of ‘supporting influential people’
Muhammad Iqbal Jamshed, Senior Manager of Dbelo Dbelo F Pakistan, claims that ‘It is no secret that wildlife trade is taking place in the country. This business is very organized, it is a hobby of big people and big and influential people are involved in it who do this business in a very systematic way.’
“We don’t know much about the extent of this business and who is behind it,” he said. But when such incidents come to light, it can be estimated from them how far its roots can be.’
They want a national policy to ‘end the illegal trade in the skins of the endangered snow leopard first.’
“Only national consensus and togetherness can eliminate or reduce this business.”
According to Muhammad Iqbal Jamshed, there are indications that Karachi and Lahore, the two largest cities of Pakistan, are its major centers. But where these centers are located in these cities and who supports them and how this network works, many questions remain unanswered.
image sourceScience Photo Library
According to a report published in BBC itself, the major hub of illegal trade in wildlife, including snow leopard and others, is Ogai area in Mansehra district.
Mudassar Riaz says it is very sad that the skin of the endangered snow leopard is offered for sale.
‘We are doing our best to expose this entire network.’
