Ibex family killed, accused caught

GILGIT, Dec 7: Days after the Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) government unveiled its trophy hunting programme, police arrested three people for killing an ibex family in Hunza Valley. “It was an unfortunate incident. A male, female and baby ibex were killed,” Wildlife Divisional Forests Officer (DFO) Aftab Mehmood said on Thursday. On a routine visit to Hussanabad Nullah, a wildlife department team led by game-inspector Habibur Rehman spotted a suspicious vehicle. However, the hunters fled leaving the dead ibexes behind when they saw wildlife officials approaching them. The vehicle and dead animals were seized by the authorities, who registered a case at a police station in Hunza. The police managed to catch the culprits a day later and presented them in court for further proceedings. The meat and hides of the dead ibexes were sold off in the presence of a magistrate for Rs20,000, while the horns were taken into the wildlife department’s custody, added DFO Mehmood.]]>