New Delhi: Pakistan’s Sindh province has this year allowed 14 billion dignitaries to hunt the Hubara bustard, an internationally protected bird species, Dawn reported.
Poachers include the President of the United Arab Emirates, the Prime Minister of Qatar and the King of Bahrain.
Quoting sources, Dawn reported that the Ministry of External Affairs has made “recommendations” for the falconry season 2021-2022 (except protected areas) to the Sindh government, with a request to issue permits required as per the country’s wildlife law. was forwarded.
The provincial government had approved 14 names during a meeting two weeks ago, each of which was allotted a specific area for hunting.
Hunting of the Hubara bustard is being allowed, although a case challenging the practice has been pending in a Pakistani court for some time now.
In a statement issued in 2020, the World Wide Fund for Nature-Pakistan (WWF) called for an immediate ban in view of the vulnerable IUCN Red List status of Hubara bustards. The Asian Hubbara Bustard, also known as McQueen’s bustard (Chlamydotis maqueni), faces extinction threats throughout the region. Its hunting is otherwise banned in Pakistan, but the country makes an exception for Arab royals.
Arab dignitaries have long been granted special hunting permits. While the Pakistan government used to issue permits directly, the process was changed after 2016-17 after the matter reportedly reached court.
“Now, the power to allow hunting rests with the respective provincial governments,” Dawn quoted a wildlife expert as saying.
The Arabian royals hunt the bird as a sport, and the special permission is seen as a form of “soft diplomacy” between Pakistan and the Arab world.
Houbara Bustard. About this
Native to Central Asia, the Asian Hubara Bustard migrates across the Indian subcontinent, including Pakistan, during the winter, making 2,000-km journeys. They return with the onset of summer. The bird is similar to the Great Indian Bustard, which is native to India and is also endangered.
The meat of the Asian Hubara is considered an aphrodisiac.
Bustards are a vulnerable species and most countries ban their hunting. In 2015, the Supreme Court of Pakistan also banned the practice outright, but the decision was reversed in 2016. Allotting special hunting permits is part of Pakistan’s foreign policy. According to reports, the government had challenged the ban, arguing that wealthy Arabs would bring investment into hunter-gatherer areas and that the ban would affect the country’s relations with the Gulf countries.
A 2016 BBC report quoted a senator from Pakistan as saying that dignitaries who come to hunt the bird “pay 10 million Pakistani rupees. [$95,000; £66,500] For hunting 50 birds in season”.
The IUCN has said that bustard hunting in Pakistan is “sustainable”. According to BBC reports, the global population of the bird is between 50,000 and 100,000.
Hunting permits issued this year
As Dawn reports, Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hammad al-Thani has been given permission to hunt in Diplo and Islamkot in Tharparkar district, while King Hammad bin Isa bin Salman al-Khalifa of Bahrain has been given Jamshoro district. .
Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Abu Dhabi, will hunt in Sindh’s Sukkur, Ghotki, Sanghar, Nawabshah and Khairpur districts.
Khairpur, Larkana, Kambar-Shahdadkot and Dadu districts have been allocated to Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahyan, a member of the ruling family of the United Arab Emirates and the representative of the President of the United Arab Emirates in the Western Region.
According to the report, other members of the UAE’s ruling family who have been granted permits include Major General Sheikh Ahmed bin Rashid Al Maktoum; Sheikh Sultan bin Tharon Al Nahyan, Member of the Executive Council of Abu Dhabi; and Sheikh Rashid bin Khalifa Al Maktoum.
Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdul Aziz Al-Thani has also been granted hunting permission; Sheikh Fahd bin Abdul Rahman bin Hammad Al-Thani, a member of the Royal Family of Qatar; Sheikh Ibrahim bin Hamad bin Abdullah Al-Khalifa, a senior member of the ruling family and uncle of the King of Bahrain; Lieutenant General Sheikh Rashid bin Abdullah Al-Khalifa, first cousin of the King of Bahrain; Sheikh Abdullah bin Salman Al-Khalifa, Advisor to the King of Bahrain for Defense Affairs; Sheikh Ahmed bin Ali al-Khalifa, the first cousin of the King of Bahrain; and Sheikh Khalid bin Rashid bin Abdullah Al-Khalifa, a first cousin of the King of Bahrain.
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