Sukkur: The Sindh Assembly passed the Sindh Wildlife Protection, Preservation, Conservation, and Management Act 2020 to ensure the protection of over 500 species of wildlife in the province, according to a news source.
This bill covers 326 bird species, 107 species of crawling animals, and 82 species of other classifications, according to the Chief Minster’s Special Assistant on Wildlife Mir Bangul Khan Mahar. He also revealed that this bill had been drafted through an international agreement and was an update on the previous law passed back in 1972, where only 45 species were granted protection.
With this new bill, the wildlife department will be able to launch FIRs directly, conduct arrests without warrant, and impose fines on offenders. In addition, it will be allowed to conduct investigations along the pattern of a civil court.
Under this new law, sharing pictures of hunted animals from these species will incur a fine of PKR 500,000, along with a six-month imprisonment. An apolitical body called the Sindh Council for Conservation has also been formed to implement this legislation effectively.
