American hunts down Markhor in Chitral using a bow

The US-based hunter paid $80,000 or Rs17.12 million to K-P wildlife dept as permit fee; '80% to be given to community'

ABOTTABAD:

An American citizen named Joseph Bradford was reported on Friday to have hunted down a Markhor in Chitral. using the traditional method of archery.

According to the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) wildlife department, Bradford successfully targeted the Markhor in the Toshi area of Chitral. The horns of the hunted animal were measured at 40 inches.

The US hunter paid $80,000 or Rs17.12 million for the trophy-hunting permit and this was for the first time that the hunter used an arrow and a bow to hunt an animal.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's chief conservator Dr Muhsin Farooq told The Express Tribune that 80 percent of the money shall be distributed among the local community, and will be of "help in conserving the wildlife in the region".

Dr Farooq added that years ago when they had started the hunting trophy programme, the population of the Markhor was estimated at around only 900. However, it has now crossed 5,000 in Chitral and Kohistan, he claimed.

The chief conservator said they have submitted a proposal to the federal government to demand an increase in the number of hunting trophy permits as the population of the Markhor has been increasing.

He said the money collected through permit fees can help the local community in protecting the endangered animals in their localities.

Markhor-hunting commonly takes place in Pakistan around this season. The permit fee paid by hunters is normally used to conserve the population of the species that has been listed in the IUCN Red List as Near Threatened since 2015.

Last year, the season’s first markhor was hunted in Skardu town of Gilgit-Baltistan by an Italian hunter named Carlo Pasco.

According to the G-B wildlife department, Pasco successfully hunted a flared-horned markhor from the Skardu conservation area managed by the local community and forest department jointly.

The hunter had paid $85,000 as permit fee for hunting a markhor in the region.