Government vigilant to waterfowls' protection

The Wildlife Department has decided to undertake a number of preventive measures for protection and conservation of the waterfowls which are flying towards Pakistan's attractive lakes and water reservoirs, as season has started, official said. "In this connection instruction have been issued to the wildlife inspectors to take vigilant eyes in the habitats areas to discourage the practice of hunting," the NWFP Wildlife official told APP here on Saturday.
Similarly, he said, they were also working on creation of community reserves for waterfowls in patron with partridges. The official stressed the need for devising strict hunting rules for saving rare and endangered species of the migratory birds from extinction.
The seasonal Siberian migratory birds like Houbara bustard and Cranes have started their journey to Pakistan with the advent of winter season.
These birds have gained a momentum because of the climate, he said, adding, their journey starts from Siberia to Pakistan and ends in India at Bharatpur.
These birds used Flyway No 4 or Green rout which also known as international migration routes by covering approximately 4, 700 km distance, official said. These birds start flying from Siberia to Afghanistan, Chitral, Nowshera, North Waziristan, Dera Ismail Khan, Dera Ghazi Khan, Sukkur and finally at Bharatpur, India.
During their journey, the birds made stopovers on natural lakes, and other inland water bodies located at different parts of Pakistan including Nowshera, Tanda Dam (Kohat), Swat, Chitral, Kalar Kahar Punjab, Keenjhar, Haleji, Baqar and Lungsee in Sindh province.
The birds take about 8 to 11 days for completion of their journey and fly over a height of 2, 400 meters while passing the mountains of K-2, Nagaperbeth and Karakoram Ranges, official informed.
The main season of migration starts in December to January because of the freeing Siberia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan and the returning process commences from March to the end of April.
These migratory birds are mainly waterfowl, houbara bustard, cranes, teals, pintail, mallard and gadwall, etc. The official said the presence of these birds have a number of ecological benefits including to prey an insects, weeds and thus contribute towards the betterment of agriculture and livestock by improving the bio-diversity of the environment by protecting flora and fauna for our future generation.
These birds have inherited a natural phenomenon of moving from one place to the other for reproduction purposes.
He said, the number and quantity of these birds was decreasing with the passage of time due to decrease in water ponds in Pakistan and excessive hunting mostly in their habitats areas.