NP: Authorities plan to ban parahawking

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Authorities plan to ban parahawking

 

*AKANSHYA SHAH*

KATHMANDU, Feb 16: After nine years of turning a blind eye to illegal

parahawking business flourishing in Pokhara, forest officials have finally

geared up for an outright ban on all parahawking activities run by British

national Scott Mason.

 

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http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details & news_id=15198

 

Mason, who is running the business in the name of bird rescue and

rehabilitation, is in possession of five Black Kites (Milvus migrans) and

two Egyptian vultures (Neophron percnopterus), which are included in the

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in 2006 and 2009, respectively. He also

has two Steppe Eagles at present. The case was revealed by

myrepublica.comon February 1.

 

 

" We will take action against all those involved in parahawking and free the

birds, " Kaski District Forest Officer Bissu Babu Tiwari told

myrepublica.comon Monday.

 

Tiwari also said the operators, who own Himalayan Raptor Rescue, had some

time ago sought permission for carrying forward the business. " Some people

came to me asking for license to run the rehabilitation center. But we

cannot provide them that as there is no record of rehabilitation of any bird

by the organization, " Tiwari added.

 

He said no bird/animal can be kept in custody without obtaining license from

the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation. He, however,

said the District Forest Office was " unaware " of the illegal activities

through all these years.

 

Minister for Forest and Soil Conservation Deepak Bohara, too, has said that

the illegal operation " will be banned. "

 

" We will stop Mason and keep the birds elsewhere, most probably at

Godavari, " Bohara told myrepublica.com.

 

Animal rights groups and conservationists, on the other hand, have called

for an immediate action but have said that the rescued birds should not be

freed in the wild at once.

WWF-Nepal´s Diwakar Chapagain said WWF will support the authorities in this

regard.

 

" The authorities who should have long banned parahawking must at least now

take immediate actions to stop Mason and take charge of the birds in his

possession, " Manoj Gautam, a conservationist, said.

 

Questioning the system which lets such activities flourish, Gautam asked,

" Why does it take so much time and why is so much thinking required to take

action against something which is totally illegal in the country? "

 

Conservationists have said that in the absence of proper coordination

between the center and the local-level and long-term planning, such illegal

activities go unnoticed.

 

akanshya

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Lucia de Vries

Freelance Journalist

Nepal - Netherlands