A baby monkey has caused chaos in a Pakistani court after escaping from a troop presented as evidence in a wildlife smuggling case, authorities said.
Two men were stopped on the outskirts of Karachi on Thursday trying to smuggle 14 baby monkeys in crates usually used to transport mangoes.
But when they were brought to court on Friday, one of the monkeys escaped…
A baby monkey has caused chaos in a Pakistani court after escaping from a troop presented as evidence in a wildlife smuggling case, authorities said.
Two men were stopped on the outskirts of Karachi on Thursday trying to smuggle 14 baby monkeys in crates usually used to transport mangoes.
But when they were brought to court on Friday, one of the monkeys escaped, causing chaos when staff tried to lure it out of a tree.
“The monkeys were kept in the boxes in poor condition…they could hardly breathe,” said Javed Mahar, head of the Sindh Wildlife Department.
Trading or keeping wild animals is illegal in Pakistan, but the laws are routinely ignored and there is a lively market for exotic pets.
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Street performers often keep monkeys to attract customers, and in some cases, criminals have trained them to break into houses and steal.
The smugglers were each fined 100,000 rupees (about $350) on Friday and the court ordered the monkeys to be handed over to the Karachi Zoo, a move immediately criticized by wildlife officials.
“The monkeys should have been returned to their natural habitat from where they were captured,” Mahar said.
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Pakistan’s zoos are notorious for their poor facilities and activists accuse them of ignoring animal welfare.
In 2020, a court ordered the closure of the only zoo in the nation’s capital due to its decrepit state.
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