Partridges in suitcases spark bird fight fears

ABIRMINGHAM man has been arrested on suspicion of trying to smuggle 11 partridges out of Pakistan in two suitcases, sparking a police probe into bird-fighting.

The birds were discovered during a luggage check at Benazir Bhutto International Airport in Rawalpindi, last Thursday, and were destined for a flight to Birmingham Airport.

The Post understands that the owner of the suitcases lives in the Aston area, and is a frequent traveller between Pakistan and the Midlands.

He has not been named by Paki- stan police who have launched an investigation after the discovery.

Five of the partridges were grey francolin, popular with those immersed in illegal cock fighting.

The others were black partridge, popular pets in Pakistan because of their ability to mimic speech.

Assistant Sub-Inspector Niaz Ahmed, of the Airport Security Force, said his staff became suspicious when luggage from Pakistan International Airlines flight PK-791 was put through a scanner.

“The owner of the suitcases, a British national originally from the Mirpur area of Pakistan, was asked to go through an extra baggage search,” he said.

“This led my staff to recover the live birds from inside two suitcases. The suspect has been arrested under environmental and wildlife protection laws which prohibit the export of these birds from Pakistan.”

It is believed that the birds had been bought for £1,800 in Pakistan – but a single fighting bird could sell for as much as £1,200 in this country.

According to The Pakistan Express Tribune, the partridges have been released in an Islamabad wildlife park.

The Birmingham man arrested at the scene is now back in the West Midlands as the investigation continues. A source close to the police probe told the Post that he flew out to Pakistan in December and arrived back in this country in April. But a week later, he flew back out to Pakistan, where he was arrested last week. Police there had been investigating a cock-fighting ring after raiding a tournament in Suraki, and are trying to trace the movements of the birds seized at the airport.

“There is obviously a market in Birmingham for these birds,” said the source. “And I’m concerned British authorities have not got involved. As well as the obvious concerns about cruelty, there is the fear that these birds may bring disease into Britain.”

The airport seizure has made headlines in major papers and on television in Pakistan, where authorities are trying to stamp out the spiralling trade in game birds.

Police in the Midlands have previously raised concerns about birdfighting in the region. Only last year, 13 grey francolin fighting birds were rescued in Derby.

And there have been arrests in India in recent years after police smashed a grey francolin fighting ring, seizing 24 birds, cash and goods.

The bird is in desperate need of protection. The game bird is in steep decline, with hunting and trapping the main causes.

The International Journal of Sciences states: “Among all these threats, illegal hunting was found to be the major threat.”