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Birds Also Victims in Afghanistan War

Entire bird population missing following bombing.

In addition to 'unintended' human targets, it appears the war on terrorism in Afghanistan could have had a disastrous impact on birds that migrate through that war torn country. For the birds, the timing of the bombing couldn't have been worse - coming as it did right at the time of year when they're on their yearly migration.

Rawal Lake is a key conservation area about a 10 minutes drive from Islamabad, Pakistan. Several thousand ducks and other wildfowl traditionally migrate there from Central Asia via Afghanistan. The birds normally arrive during November and December. By late December, 2001, not one bird had put in an appearance.

Similar reports are coming from all over Pakistan. Tens of thousands of ducks, cranes and other birds normally spend the winter in Pakistan, and Afghanistan is a key migration route. In a BBC report, Oumed Haneed, an ornithologist with Pakistan's National Council for Conservation of Wildlife, is quoted as saying the exact reasons for the disappearance of the birds is unclear.

"One impact may be directly the killing of birds through bombing, poisoning of the wetlands or the sites which these birds are using. Another impact may be that these birds are derouted, because their migration is very precise. They migrate in a corridor and if they are disturbed through bombing, they might change their route," he said.

Cranes are perhaps the most at risk. Three species of crane winter in Pakistan - all of them are rare. One, the Siberian Crane, is globally endangered. Asheik Ahmed Khan of the Worldwide Fund for Nature says the signs so far are very disturbing.

"Previously the hunters, they used to see cranes in a group of 50 or 55. This year, they could not see them in a group of more than three. The group has become very small, and it means something is happening, somewhere."

As this report was being written, tensions and hostility were also building on the other side of Pakistan - on the border with India. Any fighting that takes place there will probably further disrupt Asian bird populations.