CHITRAL: A Mexican man on Saturday hunted the Kashmir markhor in Toshi Shasha conservancy here.

Aged eight years old, the markhor’s horns measured 40 inches for which the foreigner had obtained hunting permit at over Rs10 million.

Range officer of the local wildlife department Irshad Ahmed told Dawn that the hunter, Adrian Gonzalez, didn’t waste his time to single out the animal of desired length and physique. “The Mexican national proved to be an expert hunter as he easily shot down the stout and healthy Himalayan goat from a distant range as the slippery pitch didn’t allow him to move further towards the animal,” he said.

Irshad Ahmed said that this was the season‘s first trophy hunting while many more hunters were scheduled to arrive during the month of March. He said that the last trophy hunting had been carried out in the conservancy in March, last year when a German boy, Philips Hermann, had hunted a 43-inch-long markhor.

Mr Ahmed said that wildlife department had set up village conservation committees (VCCs) which helped in the conservation of biodiversity. “It is due to this reason that the population of kashmir markhor has comfortable density in the district,” he added.

The wildlife department official said that 80 per cent of the hunting permit fee went to the local community for their collective development.

Published in Dawn March 1st , 2015

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