I finally secured the permission to accompany a party that was going for a hunting expedition of houbara bustards, a small, beautiful migratory bird. The threat to its survival has long been an issue in Pakistan due to the excessive shooting and preying/netting, without any proper sanctuary for it.
The trip was arranged by Daood Khan, a tribal chief of the Zhob district, that is a favourite hunting ground for many, particularly those from the Arabian countries. The party looked like a small caravan, comprising seven jeeps out of which five belonged to Arab Sheiks. There were 25 of us, including nine falconers.
“This area is the migratory corridor for the bustards from Afghanistan into Balochistan, as well as a grazing zone,” said Mr Taboo Khan, a famous houbara hunter. He soon started giving directions to two horsemen, whose duties was to follow the falcons set upon the houbara bustards. He explained that a falcon in pursuit of a bustard sometimes can go a long distance, thus getting out of sight and lost. Apart from following it, the horsemen separates a falcon and blindfolds it soon after it grabs the bustard and brings it to ground. A delay can spoil the hunt after the falcon nails it down and starts eating it.
Taboo Khan also explained the code of conduct of the trip, that was actually designed for Sheiks who preferred to hunt the bustards with falcons, and only sometimes hunting them with guns. Taboo Khan and his men carried the guns but were not supposed to use them to facilitate the Sheiks, for whom the area was reserved.
The houbara bustard or taloor, whose zoological name is Chlamydotis Undu-lata, is a migratory bird found in the continents of Asia, Africa and Latin America. In Asia, a large number of them are found in grassland and light savanna habitats of Central Asia and Siberia, from where they migrate to the warm habitats in Pakistan, India, Afghanistan and other warm resorts around the Arabian Gulf. Its size ranges from 2.5 feet to 4 feet in length with a wingspan of 5 to 8 feet and a weight of 4 to 10 lbs. Houbara bustards have a plumage mostly of camouflage patterning on the upper sides, and head and neck with distinctive patterns combining two or more of grey, chestnut, black, white and buff. Males are more brightly coloured and faster in flight than females.
Their migration usually starts from 15 October to 15 November each year through different routes, most of them, as wildlife sources indicate, pass through Balochistan where the vast arid plains and semi-desert of lower Balochistan, Punjab and Sindh become their favourite winter habitats. According to a wildlife survey, if not disturbed by hunters and trappers, houbaras stay within a range of 10 to 15 miles area, many of them making nests, which is laid in a bare scrape of ground, in the habitats they migrate to. They start migrating back to their summer habitats from 20 February to 20 March, depending on the severity of weather. According to a zoological survey, houbara bustards may lay eggs, which are rare, during their migration stay in warm areas, but never hatch them. Laying at an average about two to four eggs a year, the eggs are hatched only in the home habitats.
The houbaras, after migration, stay in the area for few weeks. They feed on for shoots, wild flowers, seeds and small reptiles. They seldom flock more than few, usually two to three. When sensing danger, they shrink behind a bush and do not fly until a party reaches closer to it, from where it may not be difficult to shoot them. The houbaras are chased in open jeeps, which, in many shooters’ opinion, make them more approachable to shooters’ range as one can drive near to a flying houbara without scaring them much.
The party I accompanied was to kill them with falcons — a favourite sports for the Arabs. Although they carry expensive guns and like to shoot sand grouse and partridges, they seldom shoot houbaras. The hunting of houbaras with falcons is an ancient way of preying. The falcons are trained for the purpose. “Only the very rich can afford the price of a falcon for houbara hunting,” said a falconer. A good falcon can easily cost about five hundred thousands rupees to double this amount, so only the very rich can afford such an expensive sport.
The hunt for houbara bustards started at 9am as they came out for grazing an hour after sunrise. Within 20 minutes, two houbaras were spotted ahead of us. The jeeps stopped and the falconer, after uncovering the eyes of his bird, set a falcon on it. The falcon flew straight up and made a short circle. It showed it saw the prey. The houbaras stopped running and tried to hide. They became invisible. The falcon flew in its prey’s direction and dived towards it, but before it reached the target, the houbaras flew. The chase now started.
A falcon can hunt one houbara at a time. The falcon is generally faster than the houbara but the houbara too flies fast to save itself. During the chase, a houbara uses its wingspans to thwart the attack, a tactic which often results in injuring of its wingspan, thus making flying difficult for it. Our hunting party started following it.
The falcon, as trained for the purpose, circled the houbara back. A good falcon is one that does not let the houbara fly far but rather keeps it in a circle and brings it back — making the hunters enjoy the hunting game. Two horsemen accompanying the jeeps had become alert and were ready to follow the falcons in case the houbara had not been circled back by the falcon. A straight chase can go on for many miles, and in case the horsemen don’t reach the birds in time, the falcon can devour the whole prey, or, in case it misses its target, can fly in a different direction and thus become wild again. In both cases, the falcon sits on the ground for about one or two minutes when it has to be caught. The horsemen play an important role in the whole hunt.
The falcon chased the houbara, constantly attacking it with its talons. It had wounded the houbara which slowed down in its flight. It was finally brought to the ground with the falcon holding it in place with its talons. A foreigner excitedly got down from the jeep as he was the owner of the falcon. He showed great pleasure at the success of the hunt. “Let it eat the prey,” he said to the falconer.
Instead, the falconer gave it a dead pigeon. The falconer cleaned its talon and beak of the bird with a soft cloth and blindfolded it again.
“Is this falcon expensive?” I asked the falconer, a local of Bahawalpur, in Seraiki.
“Sir, you will not believe it. The price paid for it is equivalent to that of a house in a good locality of Islamabad,” was his answer. When I tried to touch the falcon after it was blindfolded, the falconer stopped me and said, “Please, do not touch the bird as the owner may get offended.”
The hunt continued until sunset. During the trip, guns were used but only for shooting sand grouses and wild pigeons. The hunt was to continue for a week.
I finally secured the permission to accompany a party that was going for a hunting expedition of houbara bustards, a small, beautiful migratory bird. The threat to its survival has long been an issue in Pakistan due to the excessive shooting and preying/netting, without any proper sanctuary for it.
