Wild birds trade in Dera Ismael Khan and Bannu divisions of Khyber PakhtunKhwa (KPK) Province, Pakistan

Abstract

Wildlife trade is a profitable economic activity. Birds are among the most heavily traded animals worldwide, with numerous species threatened by pet trade. The present case study was stretched for period of one year to find out the status of wild birds’ trade in Bannu and Dera Ismael Khan Divisions. The study was aimed to find out the types of species, commercial prices of bird, trade routes, overall income generated from birds’ trade and the status of dealers whether licensed or not. Bimonthly visits were conducted to interview 52 bird dealers/pet shops owners/venders (23 in Dera Ismael Khan and 29 in Bannu). A sum of 16 conceivable sites were visited during the study period. Out of these, 8 sites were located in Dera Ismael Khan and 8 sites in Bannu Division. The highest priced species was Demoiselle crane (Grus virgo) and the lowest priced species was house sparrow (Passer domesticus). Total number of species traded in both regions were 8 and 14 while the income generated by bird trade was amounting to PkR 1,322,200 and 7,128,950 in Dera Ismael Khan and Bannu respectively. Majority of the birds were trapped locally with the exception of few from adjacent areas. Commercial activity led by illegal bird traders was found 75% and 100% species in Dera Ismael Khan and Bannu respectively. There was no significant difference between prices of birds, number of species sold and income generated by bird trade in two divisions.

Exploring market-based wildlife trade dynamics in Bangladesh

“…Many traders mentioned that catching birds using locally made traps is easy, which motivates hunters to catch live birds and trade them in the local markets. Similar patterns of markets being dominated by bird trade have also been recorded in other parts of South Asia, such as Pakistan (Hussain & Khan, 2021). High demand for birds, the small capital investment required, their high abundance in local forests, the lack of awareness of laws on legality of trade, and the ease with which they can be hunted/caught, carried and concealed were the prime causes of the high level of bird trade in all of the markets we studied.…”

Utilization Practices and Conservation Impacts of Endangered Wildlife in Asian Countries

“…This is due to hunting of wildlife for subsistence and trade is a widespread phenomenon, especially across tropical Southeast Asia [6,7]. Hussain and Khan [8] reported that wildlife has changed its dimension in recent years from subsistence to commercial trade and Southeast Asia is the epicenter of wildlife trade. This results in large quantities of wild animals are now on the brink of extinction, such as Chinese pangolin (Manis pentadactyla) and tiger (Panthera tigris) [9,10].…”

“…Figure 3A presents the breakdown of wildlife utilization across different taxonomic groups, including mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and birds. In terms of food, mammals have the highest number of species utilized (15), followed by reptiles (8). Amphibians and birds have comparatively fewer species utilized for food, with one and two, respectively.…”