26 rare birds seized by wildlife dept on city's outskirts.

KARACHI -- A consignment of 26 birds was intercepted and seized in a joint operation conducted by the wildlife department and Rangers on Superhighway on Sunday morning.

Sources told Dawn that the parrots being transported from Bahawalpur to Karachi were now in the custody of the wildlife department, which had started inquiry into the case.

According to wildlife department officials, 18 of the seized birds are Alexandrine parakeet, a large and long-tailed green bird named after Alexander the Great, who is said to have had numerous Alexandrine parrots exported to Europe and the Mediterranean.

The highly priced bird is quite popular in the pet trade and bird breeders.

18 of the seized birds are Alexandrine parakeet

'They are all chicks between the age of two and three months. While one can easily identify the Alexandrine parakeet due to its size, it's difficult to recognise the species of the smaller ones at this age,' said Inspector Aijaz Lal Baksh.

The Alexandrine parakeet seemed to have been caught from the wild, he added.

It's important to mention here that four parakeet species have been reported from Pakistan; rose-ringed parakeet, Alexandrine or large Indian parakeet, blossom-headed parakeet and slaty-headed parakeet.

According to experts, large-scale deforestation, illegal hunting, trapping and exports of parrots on a mass scale in the past have brought about a sharp decline in their population...