Bahraini king, family members get permits to hunt protected houbara bustard

E-Paper | March 09, 2026

KARACHI: The federal government has issued at least seven special permits to dignitaries of Bahrain, including King Sheikh Hamad bin Isa bin Salman Al-Khalifa, to hunt the internationally protected bird houbara bustard in the country during the 2016-17 hunting season, according to sources.

Among those who have been given the permits to hunt the migratory bird in Sindh and Balochistan are an uncle of the king, his defence adviser, a field marshal and armed forces chief, and other members of the Bahraini royal family, according to the sources.

The sources said that not only was Pakistan a signatory to various international nature conservation conventions that restricted the bird’s hunting but the country’s wildlife protection laws also prohibited its killing. The Pakistanis were, therefore, not allowed to hunt the protected species.

The hunting permits signed by the foreign ministry’s deputy chief of protocol, Naeem Iqbal Cheema, have been sent to the members of the Bahraini royal family through Bahrain’s embassy in the federal capital.

The letter Mr Cheema sent to the Gulf kingdom’s diplomatic mission in Islamabad says: “The ministry of foreign affairs of Pakistan presents its compliments to the Embassy of Kingdom of Bahrain in Islamabad and has the honour to state that the government of Pakistan has conveyed its recommendations to the authorities in the provinces concerned for allocation of following areas to the dignitaries of Kingdom of Bahrain for hunting of houbara bustard for the season 2016-17.”

According to the letter, King Sheikh Hamad bin Isa bin Salman Al-Khalifa has been allocated Jamshoro district (Thano Bula Khan, Kotri, Manjhand and Sehwan tehsils) in Sindh.

The king’s uncle, Sheikh Ebrahim bin Hamad bin Abdullah Al-Khalifa, has been allocated Shah Bandar tehsil and Janabad and Sonda union councils in Thatta district. The king’s defence adviser, Sheikh Abdullah bin Salman Al-Khalifa, will hunt birds in Jati tehsil of Thatta district.

Field Marshal and Commander-in-Chief of the Bahrain Defence Forces Sheikh Khalifa bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa will hunt the bird in Toisar tehsil of Musakhel district in Balochistan. The king’s first cousin and interior minister, Lt Gen Sheikh Rashid bin Abdullah Al-Khalifa, will hunt the migratory bird in Jaffarabad district of Balochistan.

Published in Dawn, December 28th, 2016

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Amad Arshad

Dec 28, 2016 09:47am

Here we go again

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I. kHAN (can)

Dec 28, 2016 11:47am

I wonder why Sindh Government is allowing Bahrini royal family to hunt the internationally protected bird houbara bustard in Sindh . I think they should follow the bold foot steps of K.P.K Government who refused to allow Royal family to hunt banned houbara bustard in their province

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Aditya

Dec 28, 2016 12:18pm

Milestones of foreign policy.

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ajme

Dec 28, 2016 01:27pm

Why don't they take few birds to their country for breeding and once birds multiplied, do whatever they wish. We never left with options when matter involved rich Gulf states.

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Khizer

Dec 28, 2016 03:14pm

Mr Cheema has done us proud. May he also have the honour of wearing houbara plumes to facilitate trophy hunting on one of the allocated hunting sites.

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Dsm

Dec 28, 2016 03:29pm

Pakistan government has gone mad allowing hunting of extinct birds, for what the kings will remain kings, nothing will ever change

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Mir

Dec 28, 2016 06:41pm

For a few years now there have been alot of voices against the #houbara bustard hunting by #Arabs in #Pakistan due to claims of it being an endanger specie. But recently my google has come across a completely different reality from what is being portrayed by media. A)Houbara Bustard is not an endangered specie but declared "Vulnerable" by #IUCN redlist,#UAE and #Qatar are the biggest donor of Houbara Bustard preservation programe in Pakistan B) Worlds Biggest houbara preservation center is located in Abu Dhabi UAE. C) In 2015, 600 houbaras were flown in from Abu Dhabi UAE to pakistan as a gift D)On 15 Feb 2016, 200 Houbara Bustard were jointly released by Houbara Foundation International Pakistan and International Fund for Houbara Conservation (Abu Dhabi). E) Houbara Foundation International Pakistan is funded and founded by UAE Govt.

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Mir

Dec 28, 2016 06:39pm

F)This Center was established a year ago in March 2015 over a vast area measuring 16 km x 4 km of the desert area of Lal Sohanra National Park, #Bahawalpur, when a three times larger flock of the species, were released. G)All the birds, 600 in 2015 and 200 in this year were fitted with identification rings, while 30 of the birds in each flock were tagged with Argos-GPS transmitters, which are sending data twice weekly to help the International Fund and Houbara Foundation in monitoring the location of the birds; their migration patterns and breeding behaviors. H)The Asian houbara bustard is a migratory bird which breeds in Central Asian countries during February and March and migrates to the arid and semi-arid desert areas of Pakistan I)Permits to Arabs are perhaps not given for free,the money should be used for conservation just like #Snowleopard conservation programe. J)Most of the houbara are being hunted by pakistanis not by foreigners

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Mir

Dec 28, 2016 06:39pm

Every year people from west and far east come to #Pakistan to hunt #Markhor, #Urial and #Ibex.Although, they buy hunting permit ranges from $4,000 - 60,000 but Markhor (Capra falconeri ) is also declared "near threatened" by #IUCN Redlist just like #houbara bustard. So kindly help me in understanding as to why there is no voice on markhor hunting as compare to Houbard bustard hunting by Arabs,as a matter of fact they pay more and invest in area development as well

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shaheen

Dec 28, 2016 06:50pm

@Mir you nailed it!!! loved your comments

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M. Siddique

Dec 28, 2016 08:52pm

Shameful, selling of national interests.

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Imran Ahmed

Dec 29, 2016 08:37pm

Shameless, degraded action by our government which has not a vestige of self respect. Is this country worth the sacrifices made for it?