Illegal hunting and poaching 'rise in South Asia under lockdown'
Illegal hunting and wildlife trafficking are feared to be flourishing across South Asia during lockdown.
The surge in reports of illegal hunting come as criminals take advantage of police being diverted, and those who have lost their regular work turn to poaching to survive.
Authorities in parts of India, Pakistan and Nepal are said to have reported a surge in illegal hunting, including of endangered animals and rare birds.
Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province has seen incidents of illegal hunting and poaching rise three or four fold, officials told Dawn newspaper.
Muhammad Niaz, divisional wildlife officer in the province's wildlife department, said some 600 cases had been logged in the first six weeks of lockdown, up from a normal tally of 150 to 200.
In the biggest case, 65 demoiselle cranes had been found bound and hooded in the back of an ambulance driving to Peshawar. The migratory birds can fetch up to £10,000 each from collectors.
Lockdown precautions to halt the spread of Covid-19 have caused severe damage to Pakistan's economy and put many out of work. Some have turned to poaching to make ends meet, wildlife officials said. Aid officials have also warned that price rises and lost wages have seen many go hungry during the pandemic.
In Nepal, several major incidents of poaching have raised fears that it has risen during the past three months. A lull in tourism may have encouraged poachers to take advantage of the situation, officials said.
On April 25, the bodies of six musk deer were found inside Sagarmatha National Park, below Mount Everest, in what park officials described as "one of the worst cases of poaching" in recent years.
"When we reached the site where the bodies were found, we saw that the deer were trapped and killed," said Bhumiraj Upadhyaya, chief conservation officer.
Indian officials have also raised concerns of a rise in poaching, with incidents recorded of rhinos, leopards, antelope and lizards being killed or caught.
