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At a minimum, the Pakistani customs authorities prevented the smuggling of 74 hawks from Karachi to the Middle East.
An official from the Pakistani customs service along with some of the hawks that were shown to the media on Saturday. Photo: Fareed Khan, AP / NTB
The hawks are estimated to be worth about NOK 12 million on the black market. This corresponds to approx. 160,000 crowns pr. bird.
Following the advice, Pakistani customs officers raided several houses in the city of Karachi. There they found a total of 74 falcons that were displayed in public on Saturday. Two people have been arrested in connection with the operation, reports BBC Urdu.
Pakistani authorities are now considering releasing the hawks into their natural environment. Photo: Akhtar Somroo, Ap / NTB
“These birds are on the endangered animal list and were on their way from Afghanistan to the Middle East,” Mohammed Saqif of the Pakistani customs service told BBC Urdu.
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In several countries in the Middle East, it is popular to use falcons for hunting. The peregrine falcon is considered by many to be the fastest animal in the world. It can reach speeds of almost 350 km / h during a dive.
In the Middle East, hawks are used for hunting. Here, a falcon owner in the United Arab Emirates trains his falcon to hunt pigeons (file photo). Photo: Kamran Jebreili, AP / NTB
Pakistani customs authorities are now considering releasing the birds into their natural environment.
This isn’t the first time hawks heading to the Middle East have received attention. An image of 80 hawks on a plane bound for the Middle East went viral on the internet in 2017. Many believed that the image was tampered with, but it turned out that everything was done in accordance with the law. The falcons belonged to a Saudi prince who had paid to have them transported to Saudi Arabia.
The purpose of the trip must have been to hunt geese.
The image of 80 hawks on airplanes was posted by Reddit user Lensoo in 2017 and won online. Photo: Private
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