PESHAWAR, Nov 10: The wildlife department has taken some special measures to regulate the hunting of partridges during the current hunting season.

In the NWFP, the hunting season starts from Nov 1 and ends by the end of January.

The bird is usually found near the hills of Kohat, Karak, D.I.Khan, Abbottabad, Haripur, Manshera, Swabi and Mardan districts.

About the hunting regulations, a wildlife department official said that the hunting was restricted to the areas where the bird was in abundance. Similarly, he said, it was restricted only to Sundays and the public holidays.

Every hunter was allowed to kill eight birds a day, that too with a shotgun and not with an automatic rifle, he said.

He said the Net-hunting, specially at night, was not allowed and hunting was prohibited before the sunrise and after the sunset, because at these times the bird couldn’t fly, conveniently and could be easily killed in groups.

Apart from these efforts, the official said, the local people had also been involved to prevent illegal hunting of the partridges.

He said the communities had been motivated to maintain the hunting areas in their respective localities and were empowered to fine those hunters who were violating the regulations.

As an incentive, 75 per cent of the total fine, collected, would be given to the local people, he said.

The department has also planned to provide cages and hatchery facilities to the community so that the loss suffered due to the hunting can be recovered.

To implement the wildlife regulations, the patrolling of the wildlife watchers and the deputy-rangers will be enhanced.

The hunters who would be found violating the laws would be fined by the patrolling teams or their cases would be sent to the court of the special forest magistrate, the official said.—APP