Chitral, Dec 11, 2025: American national Thomas Garrick Steele has hunted an exceptionally large Markhor in the Shasha block of the Toshi–Shasha Community-Managed Game Reserve in Chitral.
Officials said this was one of the season’s most notable trophy-hunting successes. According to a spokesperson for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Climate Change, Forest, Environment and Wildlife Department, the Markhor displayed an impressive horn length of 55.5 inches, a measurement that places it among the most remarkable specimens recorded in the reserve in recent years.
The American hunter had paid 243,000 US dollars to obtain the permit under the trophy hunting scheme of the wildlife department of Khyber Pakthunkhwa.
The department said the hunt highlights the continuing impact of community-driven conservation, a system in which local residents play a central role in protecting wildlife while receiving development funds generated through strictly regulated trophy hunting.
Officials added that the revenue produced through these hunts is reinvested into community welfare, habitat restoration, and broader conservation initiatives.
Situated in Lower Chitral, the Toshi–Shasha reserve is widely recognized for its thriving populations of mountain ungulates and is frequently cited as one of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s leading examples of sustainable and community-supported wildlife management.
Related:
A shameful picture of cruel people