KARACHI: The recent kill of an ibex in the Surjak and Sumbak game reserve of Jamshoro district has marked the beginning of the trophy hunting season in Sindh.

The trophy of the male animal with 40-inch-long horns, a sign of the animal’s maturity, and weighing about 80 kilograms was claimed by Gustavo De Lapena of Spain.

According to the Sindh wildlife department, this year the Sindh government has given 20 permits for trophy hunting — 10 for ibex and five for urial (a kind of wild sheep) to foreigners and five to locals who could hunt only an ibex.

“Under the trophy hunting rules, only an old male species could be targeted. Mr Lapena claimed the trophy in Ahmed Khan village,” said assistant wildlife conservator Ghulam Sarwar Jamali, who accompanied the foreign hunter in the expedition in Jamshoro district.

Another hunting condition, he pointed out, was related to the horn size of the animal — an ibex should have 35-inch-long (or above) horns while the horn size for an urial is 22 inches and above.

“The hunting session is carefully monitored and it is ensured that the right animal is targeted. The old male animal is easily distinguishable with its long horns and once the animal is shot and injured, the permit holder is allowed to retrieve it,” he explained.

Referring to a recent census of urial and ibex in that area, he said currently there were around two dozen animals of both species each with exploitable horn size.

According to Jamali, the number of urial and ibex in the game reserves has increased since the start of trophy hunting in the province in 2005.

“Both animals numbered around 350 over five years ago but their population has increased now, urial are between 500 and 600 whereas the number of ibex is 1,200,” he said.

It is noteworthy that hunting of Sindh ibex and urial is prohibited under the Sindh wildlife rules. Controlled hunting, however, is allowed during the non-breeding season in the game reserves and non-protected areas under the provisions of Section 18 of the Sindh Wildlife Protection Ordinance, 1972.

Trophy hunting is carried out in the game reserves (Surjan, Sumbak, Eri and Hothiano) and non-protected area (Hilalo and Pacharan) of Jamshoro district.

According to sources, no hunting permit has been issued this year under the chief minister quota that used to allow select individuals a licence for free hunt. All permits for trophy hunting season this year were given through open bidding.

The season will continue till March next year.

Govt earns over Rs10m revenue

According to the wildlife department sources, an amount of about Rs10,401,750 has been generated this year from trophy hunting. This year, the hunt fee for urial and ibex has been increased from $12,700 and $3,200 to $13,500 and $3,600, respectively.

The minimum hunt fee set by the federal government this year, however, was $10,000 for urial and $2,500 for ibex.

“Hunting is done with the participation of community-based organisations and 80 per cent of the proceeds from the trophy hunting is utilised for the welfare of the community and conservation of wildlife and its habitat,” said Sindh wildlife conservator Javed Ahmed Mahar.

Justifying trophy hunting, he said that it not only led to an increase in the animal population but also helped communities improve their lives.

In response to a question as to why more hunting permits were given to foreigners, he argued that they offered more hunting fee compared to the locals.

According to wildlife experts, Sindh ibex and blandford urial (Sindh and Balochistan have the same species) are among the nine species whose trophy hunting is regularly conducted in Pakistan. The others are: three species of markhor (Suleiman markhor, Kashmir markhor and Astor markhor), Punjab urial, Afghan urial, Himalayan blue sheep and Himalayan ibex.

Published in Dawn, December 15th, 2014