KARACHI, Jan 24: The Federal government has allowed the trophy hunting of 93 animals of rare species, which are otherwise protected under wildlife protection laws in the country
, only in the game reserves that are managed with assistance from community, it is learnt.
According to sources, the government plans to earn over $622,000 as trophy fees from the hunters. The amount collected, under the law, is to be distributed among the communities concerned and the government with a ratio of 80 per cent and 20 per cent, respectively.
The logic behind the system is that the communities, who get a lion's share from the trophy fees, and can spend these funds on the community welfare projects of their choice, are encouraged to participate actively in the conservation of the wildlife in their respective areas.
Earlier, in the areas not being managed by the communities, poaching, with the help of either the wildlife staff or the influential community members, has not yet been effectively controlled.
But now, with the incentive of huge share in trophy fees, the community members concerned were expected to become more possessive and vigilant regarding the habitats of rare animals, as they knew that by saving each animal the community would be earning in hundreds of thousands of rupees, which could be spent on welfare projects, the sources said.
The system worked very well, particularly in the Northern Areas, where the communities were more organized and empowered, and the community guards had even foiled poaching bids by senior government officials and politicians, they added.
They said that in some other parts of the country, only theoretically the habitats were managed by community, while actually a few influential people (sardars) dominated the communities and areas, pocketing the funds generated through the hunting, besides other 'privileges', adding that the communities, well-trapped in the clutches of these sardars, hardly get anything.
BLUE SHEEP: The government has allowed the Northern Areas authorities to issue two hunting licences for the Blue Sheep at $5,000 each. One each could be harvested from the KVO and the Shrimshal.
MARKHOR: The North West Frontier Province has been allowed to harvest four markhor trophies from its habitats in Chitral and Kaigah. A fee for each trophy is $25,000.
The Northern Areas have been allotted quota for three markhor trophies and these could be harvested from its habitat in SKB, DMT and Burji, with a fees of $25,000 for each trophy. Balochistan can get five markhors harvested from Torgarh and Takatoo areas, with a fee of $25,000 for each animal.
URIAL: Balochistan has also been allowed to harvest 15 Balochistan Urials (wild sheep) - 10 of these could be hunted in Durreji and five in Torgarh - with the fees for each of these being $8,000.
Punjab can also issue 8 Urial trophy hunting licences for $10,000 each. Four licence holders could carry out their hunting in Kalabagh, while the four others could hunt in the Salt Range.
IBEX: The federal government has allowed the hunting of 30 Himalayan Ibex (goat) from the Northern Areas at a coast of $2,000 each, while 10 Himalayan Ibex could be hunted in the NWFP at $2,000 each.
Six Sindh Ibex could also be hunted in the Balochistan's Durreji protected area, that borders with the Khirthar National Park in Sindh, at a cost of $2,000 each, and 10 Sindh Ibex could also be hunted in the Sindh game reserves at a cost of $2,000 each.
The federal government issues a CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna) certificate/permit to the international hunters, without which the hunters could not carry the trophy with them on their return to their respective countries.
The CITES makes it mandatory that the hunting is to be carried out in the community-managed hunting grounds, so that the communities could benefit from the natural resources, in this case the rare wildlife species, in their regions.
As Sindh does not have any community-managed game reserve, so the federal government would not issue the CITES permit to the hunters harvesting trophies in the government-managed Sindh game reserves.
So the Sindh Wildlife department could not invite hunters from other countries, and it allowed the local hunters to hunt the Sindh Ibex at a friction of the cost as compared to that of paid by international hunters.
The sources argued that when the federal government knew that there was no community managed hunting area in Sindh in which the Sindh Ibex could be hunted, why it gave quota to the province for hunting of 10 Sindh Ibex.
