96,000 USD paid to hunt Kashmir Markhor in Chitral
Gul Hammad Farooqi
Chitral: A team of three hunters shot a Kashmir Markho in Chitral district today. The eight years old Markhor costed the hunter as much as 96,000 US dollars.
According to details, the Markhor was hunted at Shah Shah, in the limits of Toshi village Conservation Committee. Shahzada Amir Hasanatuddin, also known as Shahzada Gul, told this scribe that three foreigners hailing from Africa, America and UK had came to Chitral for hunting a Markhor. They had paid the license fee and obtained legal documents before going for the hunt. The British citizen McLean Alexander hunted the eight year old Markhor firing multiple bullets.
DFO Imtiaz Lal told this scribe on phone that this was the second trophy hunting of Markhor during the current season. Earlier, in December, a Russian hunter had shot a markhor of almost the same size in Gahirate.
General secretary of Al-Burhan Village Conservation Committee (VCC) Shahzada Amir Hasanatuddin said that a trophy hunter spends a number of days searching for a Markhor of maximum size in a conservancy. This is done with the help of local people, often conservation activists, or social workers.
Shahzada Gul told that each horn of the hunted markhor was measured to be 42 inches for which he carried out search for two days in the pasture.
He further said that the population of the once endangered species has crossed the figure of two thousands in the conservancy due to the involvement of the community in the conservation process who have been organized into VCC by the wildlife department.
He said that VCC fully involve in protection of these species which attract foreign hunters from abroad who paying million of rupees for hunting trophy and it play vital role in development of this backward area.
He said that most of developmental works complete by this fund and life standard of these people raise by hunting trophy. He said that the hunter has left for Arkari valley to hunt a Himalayan ibex there.
Shahzada Gul said that VCC members deploy their personal watcher for protection of these Markhor and they success to eliminate illegal hunting in the area.
He proposed for increasing number of hunting trophy because there are sufficient Markhor and number of hunting trophy can be doubled easily which cause for boosting our economy. He also suggested for issuing hunting trophy to local hunter on subsidize rate for hunting of old age Markhoer who near to die due to overage and sickness.
