There is an alarming increase in the number of some species of animals that dominate the landscape in Karachi. This includes both the flying types and those that grace the land with their presence.
The land dwellers are dominated by the presence of cats and dogs while the skies are occupied by eagles and crows.
No data is available on the number of our flying friends but there is unauthenticated data available on the number of stray dogs which puts their number at close to 3 million. I wonder if cats even come close to the number of dogs we have but then cats are not so visible and not perceived such a threat to the human population as they are not known to attack humans or cause any serious illness due to their bites.
Dogs on the other hand are considered more vicious and have somehow attained the reputation of attacking humans and specially children which is why they are regarded with fear and their advances even if seemingly harmless are responded with violence.
Crows and eagles dominate the sky but are not talked about so much except by the civil aviation authority for whom these flying intruders in our air space are a constant threat to the aviation industry. It is hard to believe but this year alone in the first six months 38 PIA aircraft collided with birds at busy airports like Lahore, Islamabad, Multan, Faisalabad, Gilgit and Sukkur. The aircraft affected included 31 Airbus A320s and 3 Boeing 777s. Frightening statistics for the regular traveler in our skies.
Many campaigns are launched to reduce the population of eagles near airports and authorities ensure that there are no dumps of food near the airports which would attract eagles.
Little do the authorities know that eagles and crows have other enemies and I am referring to housewives and especially those that hang out their laundry on a regular basis in an open balcony.
God save those ladies who venture out to perform this task and within close proximity of an eagle’s nest. As the lady of the house tries to put their washed laundry on the clothes line the concerned eagle sweeps in like an F16 to attack.
Not many ladies can withstand such an attack and either remove their clothes line to another point if available or just dry their laundry under the fan in the sitting room.
Do these birds attack each other? Well crows and eagles are constantly in competition with each other and attempting to steal each other’s nests. This leads to serious confrontation with eagles sweeping down on crows and crows howling all together to not only call other crows to their defense but also gather enough of them to intimidate eagles.
There is however one bird which is considered fair game by all the players on the scene whether they fly or walk and it is the pigeon. I think pigeon is the most hunted bird on the scene. Caught on the ground they are swiftly devoured by cats. I am surprised how cats manage to catch pigeons.
One theory is that whenever sensing danger pigeons instead of flying away close their eyes thinking that if they can’t see the enemy the enemy cannot see them as well.
Only a few days ago I saw a rare sight. A crow eating a pigeon which I suspect was killed by an eagle. I say this because lately I have seen eagles attacking pigeons. How do I get all this useful information? Well my balcony overlooks a park next door which is home to not only eagles and crows but also parrots and few other flying species.
A flying species that no one talks about are bats. Yes there are 50 different kind of bats in Pakistan and you can see them flying in public parks at night. Mostly they are harmless but they do carry various diseases with them so you have to be careful not to have any close interaction with them.
Well as you can see there is a whole world of predators and victims of dangers lurking for the defenseless in the sky and on the ground. Just look around and an ordinary day in Karachi can become an exciting Safari if you keep your eyes and ears open.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
The writer is a well-known columnist
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