KARACHI: A tug of war continues between conservationists and interest groups said to be sympathetic towards hunters to decide the fate of the houbara bustard, a rare and endangered migratory bird which is highly sought after by wealthy foreigners for hunting, it has been learned reliably.

According to sources, the conservationists are losing ground with the passage of time to the interest groups, some of which are said to be working under the guise of conservation non-governmental organisations and are succeeding in persuading government officials to continue with the current hunting policy.They said that government officials, who earlier recommended a ban on houbara-hunting are now, due to the influence of the interest groups, trying to shift their stance from a complete ban on hunting to a more vague strategy — sustainable hunting — which may be used to mitigate the concerns of the environmentalists and to justify it they are also planning to hold a survey jointly with government officials and NGOs.

They also stressed that the scientific survey should be carried out by the government officials and independent nature conservationists or NGOs of repute, and that hunters’ sponsored NGOs be kept out of the study so that the exercise would be authentic and gain acceptance. Important aims include determining the status of the bird and the population of the houbara bustard.

A species of the Kyzyl Kum desert in the Central Asian region, the houbara bustard, to avoid harsh cold weather conditions in its habitat, comes to spend its winters in a relatively warmer environment here.

However, a large number of hunters have been hunting it in all the desert regions of this country for over a quarter of a century.

This has led to decline in the number of houbaras — whose meat reportedly has some aphrodisiacal qualities.

As hunters from other countries give expensive gifts to locals — from politicians to bureaucrats and even the wildlife field staff — during their hunting spree, the government has been issuing special houbara-hunting permits to them.

This is being justified by claiming that this act will help foster relations with the hunters’ countries and not doing so would adversely affect relations.

Sources said that the environment ministry’s National Council for Conservation of Wildlife (NCCW) had moved a summary a while back, which was also supported by the foreign ministry, to the prime minister proposing a three-year ban on houbara-hunting so that the declining population could be given a chance to multiply its numbers.

Committee for sustainable hunting

Sources also said that when this issue was brought up at a meeting of the Houbara bustard committee — set up by the NCCW — held at Bhurban, retired Brigadier Mukhtar of the Houbara Foundation said that the ban would not help if the hunting of the bird continued in other range states such as the Central Asian states.

He said that earlier in 1985 the government had banned this type of hunting but it could not be implemented.

He stressed the need for sustainable hunting. He also said that the Houbara Foundation would build the capacity of the zoological survey department so that it could carry out scientific surveys.

Wildlife conservators of Balochistan and Sindh, Ashfaq Agha and Hussain Bux Bhaagat, respectively, said that almost the entire desert region in the country was being allotted for hunting.

They suggested that some areas be designated for conservation where hunting should not be allowed.

Pointing out some illegalities of foreign hunters, Mr Bhaagat said that the hunting period notified in the hunting permit was not honoured. Also in additions to the permit holder, his relatives and friends also hunted which was illegal, he said.

Mehmood Cheema of the IUCN said that any decision should be based on scientific surveys of the houbara population, suggesting that a regional approach be adopted.

Retired chief conservator of the NWFP wildlife Dr Mumtaz Malik favoured sustainable hunting with incentives for local communities as the ban, according to him, could not be implemented.

Punjab wildlife director-general Jehangir Ghauri said that the country cannot act alone and that any action should be based on research and recent data on the houbara population.

Ali Habib and Dr Ejaz of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) stressed that there should be some negative areas/hot spots where the houbara could breed so that it could be conserved for future generations.

Pointing to the Nag Valley of Balochistan — said to be a habitat of the houbara bustard and where the Houbara Foundation had a captive breeding project — they said that a management plan for five to 10 years was required and more hot spots like Nag Valley be explored where conservation efforts may succeed.

Deputy Inspector-General of Forests Munaf Qiamkhanai said that the resentment existed among local hunters owing to the discrimination that they could not hunt the houbara but foreigners were given special permits.

He stressed that authentic data regarding the houbara bustards in the country was mandatory to determine their status and to undertake a decision regarding sustainable hunting.

The sources said that after listening to the different points of view and concluding the discussion, inspector-general of forests Iqbal Siyal, who presided over the meeting, said that a total ban was not a solution and that a scientific approach and viable mechanisms were necessary. It was also decided that the Houbara Foundation would build capacity of the zoological survey department and they would conduct joint surveys.

Summary seeking ban still pending

It is interesting to note that the NCCW, which is headed by IG Siyal, had some time back recommended to the prime minister that a three-year ban on the houbara bustard be imposed. The foreign ministry had also supported the recommendation. The summary is still being held in the prime minister’s secretariat.

Responding to Dawn queries, IG Siyal said that another meeting of the Houbara bustard committee would be held in Lahore in the next few days and that he was also planning a houbara bustard survey that would be carried out by the Zoological Survey of Pakistan only so that status of the bird could be determined and decisions taken subsequently.