<p>Pakistani authorities said Saturday they had foiled an attempt to smuggle dozens of endangered falcons worth more than one million dollars out of the country.</p>.<p>Wildlife traffickers catch falcons in Pakistan's mountainous north, often to sell them for lucrative profits in the Gulf region, where hunting with the birds is a popular sport.</p>.<p>Customs officials seized 75 falcons and a houbara bustard at locations around the southern port city of Karachi in what they called an "unprecedented" anti-smuggling operation.</p>.<p>"The birds are listed as rare and endangered species and their trade is strictly banned," said senior customs officer Mohammad Saqif Saeed.</p>.<p>He did not identify the species of the birds but estimated their value to be around 200 million rupees (over $1 million) on the black market.</p>.<p>Authorities have arrested two suspects and plan to release the birds into the wild.</p>.<p>The houbara bustard is a desert bird whose meat is prized among Arab sheikhs as an aphrodisiac.</p>.<p>Falcons are often used by wealthy hunting parties from the Gulf who travel to Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province every winter to catch and kill the houbara.</p>.<p>An earlier ban on the sport was overturned by Pakistan's top court.</p>.<p>Two hundred rare falcons were reportedly exported to Qatar from Pakistan earlier this year on special permission.</p>
<p>Pakistani authorities said Saturday they had foiled an attempt to smuggle dozens of endangered falcons worth more than one million dollars out of the country.</p>.<p>Wildlife traffickers catch falcons in Pakistan's mountainous north, often to sell them for lucrative profits in the Gulf region, where hunting with the birds is a popular sport.</p>.<p>Customs officials seized 75 falcons and a houbara bustard at locations around the southern port city of Karachi in what they called an "unprecedented" anti-smuggling operation.</p>.<p>"The birds are listed as rare and endangered species and their trade is strictly banned," said senior customs officer Mohammad Saqif Saeed.</p>.<p>He did not identify the species of the birds but estimated their value to be around 200 million rupees (over $1 million) on the black market.</p>.<p>Authorities have arrested two suspects and plan to release the birds into the wild.</p>.<p>The houbara bustard is a desert bird whose meat is prized among Arab sheikhs as an aphrodisiac.</p>.<p>Falcons are often used by wealthy hunting parties from the Gulf who travel to Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province every winter to catch and kill the houbara.</p>.<p>An earlier ban on the sport was overturned by Pakistan's top court.</p>.<p>Two hundred rare falcons were reportedly exported to Qatar from Pakistan earlier this year on special permission.</p>