LAHORE: Punjab has rescued 50,000 birds and 1,020 wild animals over the past two years and registered 1,050 FIRs under wildlife protection laws, Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif said in an official message issued on the occasion of Wildlife Day, describing the province as an emerging model “not only for Pakistan but for the entire world” in wildlife conservation.
According to the statement, enforcement action across the province has produced 14,700 challans and recoveries of Rs205 million in fines. Thirty bears were among the animals rescued.
The centrepiece of the enforcement push is a dedicated Wildlife Rangers force — the first regular force of its kind in Punjab — with 544 personnel having completed training. Formal patrolling and wildlife crime operations have been launched, the Chief Minister said, supported by new vehicles, communication and rescue equipment, and protective gear.
Wildlife Helpline 1107 has resolved 950 complaints and cases, while 13 modern rescue vehicles have been inducted into field formations.
In a separate message marking World Wildlife Day, Senior Provincial Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said the Wildlife Act 2024 had been enacted, making offences under Sections 7 to 13 non-bailable. Legislation of this kind matters in practice: non-bailable classification removes the near-automatic release that has historically blunted prosecution in hunting and trafficking cases.
Punjab has completed what officials describe as its first technology-enabled wildlife census. An AI-based survey using thermal drones has been launched to identify safe habitat for the Punjnad dolphin, and a wildlife detection system built on AI-integrated thermal drones now covers nine rare species.
Machine-learning-based thermal surveys have been applied to urial, nilgai, deer, bear and chinkara populations, while aerial surveys of Kallar Kahar, Neela Wahan, Sanbli and Kundwa lakes have been completed. GPS collar trackers are being used to monitor animal movement and safety.
On the mapping side, 920 GIS maps have been prepared and 108 Wildlife Protected Areas digitised, with regional centres at Kallar Kahar, Multan, Sahiwal, Rawalpindi, Sargodha, Dera Ghazi Khan, Bahawalpur and Faisalabad linked to the system. A total of 104 areas have been declared Wildlife Protected Areas.
Jam Pur, from Beat Lundi Patafi to Guddu Barrage, has been declared a safe habitat for the Punjnad Indus Dolphin. Marriyum Aurangzeb said the Panjnad-Indus River Dolphin Wildlife Sanctuary had been established under the Punjab Protected Areas Act 2020, covering a river stretch of roughly 197 kilometres from Jampur to Guddu Barrage for the protection, conservation and breeding of the endangered species.
The Indus River Dolphin is among the world’s most threatened freshwater cetaceans, and its range has narrowed sharply over decades of barrage construction and canal diversion — context that makes a legally designated stretch of this length significant for the species’ recovery prospects.
A veterinary hospital complex for wild animals has been established, alongside Punjab’s first Wildlife Hospital on Wheels and Mobile Veterinary Clinic. Marriyum Aurangzeb said Pakistan’s first internationally benchmarked wildlife hospital had been built in the province, together with the country’s first Wildlife 7D Cinema.
Three Wildlife Rehabilitation Centres have been set up, and emergency veterinary care, quarantine and rescue recovery facilities established at Lahore Safari Zoo. The zoo has added rare African antelopes, giraffes, wild buffaloes and nilgai, and now houses a Savanna Cinema, Giraffe Safari Café, Safari Tree Café and a Wildlife Communication Hub.
Seven community-based sanctuaries and seven private wildlife reserves have been established, and a Wildlife Students Internship Programme launched with a Rs60,000 monthly scholarship. Eco-development work is under way at Bansra Gali, Murree Biodiversity Park and Changa Manga.
Marriyum Aurangzeb said the ban on animal imports had been lifted to support breeding, and appealed to citizens to discourage illegal hunting and trafficking.
Leave a Reply