Some business agents have employed local people to catch poisonous snakes and scorpions in Thar Desert and other areas of interior Sindh to make money endangering the very existence of these creatures.
These agents are searching poisonous snakes and scorpions in Mirpurkhas, Umarkot, Nokot, Mithi, Islamkot, Chacharo, Nangarparkar Khapro and other desert areas and selling them to some foreign companies which use them in preparation for some medicines. These companies offer attractive cash rewards for this adventurous and dangerous hunting of snakes and black scorpions. Agents of these companies have hired local people, especially snake charmers, to catch scorpions and snakes for them to be sold on high prices to foreign companies.
Two agents involved in this business, Abdur Rashid Chandio and Imran Pathan, told INP that they had been given vehicles and all other facilities by agents from Karachi and Hyderabad to catch scorpions and snakes and this hunting was under way for the last many days. They said many people had started this business to make money.
On the other hand, the Sindh government has imposed ban on this hunting. The police and the wildlife department teams have reportedly raided different places and recovered snakes and scorpions from the possession of the agents.
