DERA KHAN: Wildlife officials in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) fined a Qatari prince and seized two of his prized hunting falcons after he was discovered illegally hunting a rare bird species, an official said on Thursday.

The confiscated falcons — which can be worth upwards of $250,000 each — were released into the wild this week, said Khan Malook, a district wildlife officer in KP.

The prince, identified as Sheikh Abdullah bin Abdul Rahman al-Thani, paid a fine of 80,000 rupees before leaving the country, Malook said. The Qatari was discovered hunting houbara bustards, listed as a vulnerable species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, in the area in mid-January, he said.

Pakistan has come under fire from conservationists for granting permits for hunting bustards to wealthy Gulf Arabs, for whom falconry is a revered cultural tradition. The sheikh, however, had no permit for hunting, Malook said. Representatives of the Qatari royal family could not be reached for comment on Thursday.

Know more: KP govt fines Qatari prince Rs80,000 for illegal falcon hunting

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan, while taking a jibe at the federal government earlier this week, said that the KP government is making all efforts to protect the rare species in Pakistan. However, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government had given licences and permits for hunting of the birds — that too against the law, he further added.

The PTI chief said this was the difference between the ‘naya’ and old Pakistan.

Also read: BHC bans houbara bustard hunting in Balochistan

During the hunting season, royal families from Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia come to Balochistan's Dalbandin, Chaghi and other areas for the purpose of hunting. The Federal government had issued special permits to members of royal families of the Gulf states to allow them to hunt the protected species, including houbara bustard.

Take a look: Arab royal hunts down 2,100 houbara bustards in three week safari

The government for the first time has informed the permit holders that Pakistan will “observe a moratorium on hunting during the 2014-15 season to replenish houbara bustard stocks”, but conservationists keeping in view the power and influence of petrodollars are skeptical.

Last year, The Balochistan High Court (BHC) ordered cancellation of areas allotted to Arabs and other foreigners hunting for the houbara bustard and other birds in the province.