CHITRAL: Residents of Chitral have welcomed the decision of the wildlife department to introduce non-exportable trophy hunting of Kashmir Markhor in Chitral Gol National Park.
Saleemuddin, chairman of Chitral Gol Community Development and Conservation Association, the umbrella organisation of 11 villages, said Chitral would be the major beneficiary of the decision, for which they had been striving for the last two decades.
He said as per the existing practice of trophy hunting, three exportable permits of markhor were auctioned every year to foreigners in the two conservancies of Toshi Shasha and Gahiret-Golen, but Chitral Gol was excluded from it.
He said that last year the auction price of a permit was $112,000, while exportable permit meant that the hunter could take the horn and the hide to his country.
He said that the Wildlife and Biodiversity Board of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in its meeting last week had introduced the scheme of non-exportable trophy hunting of 10 Kashmir Markhor and 31 ibex every year for Pakistani nationals.
Saleemuddin said the non-exportable markhor trophy’s auction would start at Rs3 million while that of ibex at Rs0.3 million, but the hunter would be bound to surrender the horn and the hide to the local community or the wildlife department.
He said due to the community’s engagement in the conservation process, the population of markhor had increased to 2,400, which was less than 100 at the time of its establishment in 1980s, and in lieu of it, the community was reciprocated by the endowment fund for its community development channelised through CGCDCA.
Mr Saleemuddin said that there were more than 200 trophy-size markhors in the park with horns measuring above 50 inches and aged above 10 years, while 15 years was the maximum age of a markhor.
He, however, said that the number of exportable trophy hunting permits should also be doubled keeping in view the strength of markhor and ibex in Chitral Gol and the two conservancies of Chitral.
Published in Dawn, October 1st, 2024