08 March 2005	Tuesday	26 Muharram 1426

PESHAWAR, March 7: The NWFP Wildlife department has sold four permits for Markhor hunting to foreigners at a cost of $176,000.

The auction was made under a trophy hunting scheme of the department launched with the objective to generate funds for economic uplift of the communities protecting the rare animal, said NWFP Wildlife Chief Conservator Dr Mumtaz Malik while talking to APP.

The permit at $44,000 each was a record highest bid ever received by the department, he said. Each year permits for hunting of three to four animals were sold and money obtained from hunters was mostly distributed among communities protecting the animals in Chitral and Kohistan districts, Dr Malik said.

He said 80 per cent of the total amount of trophy hunting was distributed among communities and the remaining went into national exchequer. -APP