Angry residents threaten to resist trophy hunting

CHITRAL, Dec 30: Four village conservation committees of Gahirait have warned that they would resist trophy hunting of Kashmir markhor. The announced their decision after criticizing the authorities concerned for not transferring two watchers of the conservancy. [caption id="attachment_6723" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="A trophy hunter.--file"][/caption] In a resolution signed by presidents of these committees, including Haider Zaman, Shahzada Saif, Shamsher Dastagir and Amjad Jan, they said the hunting was likely to be disturbed in the presence of the two officials. The wildlife department has issued trophy hunting permits in the conservancy, which is said to be the richest in the district for its biodiversity and thick population of markhor. The resolution alleged that the watchers – Sheikh Islam and Mohammad Ishaq – had strained relations with the community workers who had organized themselves into VCCs. It said the divisional forest officer of wildlife Chitral had also ignored their requests for transfer the officials. They said now the VCCs have decided to resist trophy hunting in the area until the officials were transferred.–Zahiruddin]]>