Raja Ali Nawaz keeps looking through the telescope to monitor the movement of people in the vast, rugged expanse of land which is densely populated with Phulahi trees.

Raja Nawaz, the self-styled and traditional head of Jamalwal Village located 20 kilometres to the north-west of Chakwal City, owns the property which sprawls over some three to four square kilometres. Locals call the area “Rajian da thaika” or the area of the Rajas.

His property, and indeed the whole area, is home to the brown and black partridge, a bird from the pheasant family, which does not fly and avoids high places so much that it also nests on the ground. The bird is much sought after by hunters and poachers alike.

Influential landlords fence in gaming reserves to hunt down the bird while poachers kill prized urials for profit

Raja Nawaz has made shooting the bird difficult and has put up warning signs on different spots throughout the area. The signboards warn: “This is private property. brown and black partridges, see-see and hares have been released here. All kind of hunting is prohibited here and anyone who dares to hunt will be responsible for the consequences.”

The signboards, and the way the Raja looks over his property, may lead one to believe the bird and other wildlife are much protected within his property at least. But the reality is very much the opposite as the estate is, in effect, a ‘private game reserve’.

“I don’t allow people to hunt partridges in my area. However, my friends and relatives are allowed to hunt here,” Raja Nawaz admits without hesitation.

According to the law, a private person cannot declare his area a ‘private game reserve’, a place where hunting is prohibited, without permission from the Wildlife Department. However, thousands of such reserves have been fenced in by people in Chakwal.

The apparent purpose of these game reserves is to protect partridges and other species but in reality the owners of these illegal game reserves use the birds as game themselves.

The owners are all influential landlords who are fond of hunting and not only poach the bird themselves but also facilitate their friends in doing so. While those who are not as influential or are not acquainted with these landlords have to face consequences if they hunt the birds, even if it is during official hunting season.

Because the bird is found here, Chakwal has become the most travelled-to destination by hunters and poachers alike.

A senior official of the Punjab Wildlife Department said continued hunting had decreased the partridge population in the area. “I think hunting the bird should be banned for at least five years,” he said.

The number of licensed hunters is also ever increasing. The District Wildlife Department issued some 767 licences over four years, from 2011 to 2014 while 132 licences were issued from January to April 2015.

A licensed hunter can legally shoot six partridges a day but many violate the rule and hunt down as many as they want.

Chakwal is also home to the Punjabi urial, also known as the Arkas or Shapo, and is a sub-species of wild sheep. The animal can only be found in the mountains of the Salt Range and Kalla Chitta.

While officials at the Wildlife Department claim the population of the urial is increasing, Dawn learnt from reliable sources that if poaching the endangered animal is not controlled, the number of the horned animal in the area will dwindle down critically.

The urial is hunted by foreigners while poachers are always locals. “The locals can’t afford to hunt the animal legally because to shoot down one of the animals requires a permit which costs $16,000,” said an official.

Rana Shahbaz, the deputy director of the Wildlife Department, explained hunting the animal as necessary for its own survival. “The older males, who are no longer able to mate, don’t let the younger ones mate either. This is why hunting the animals is allowed once a year but only the older ones, recognised by their huge horns, are allowed to be killed,” he said.

He claimed that urial population had swelled from 1,100 in 2011 to more than 3,000 now. However, the number can only be ascertained with a fresh count.

Other than hunters, the animal also sees an enemy in poachers who more often steal them out of the sanctuaries. An official said there was a gang of poachers in the area who killed the prized animals and then sold them for anywhere between Rs5,000 to Rs30,000 each.

Urials are also threatened by deforestation, mostly because of the timber mafia in the mountains of Diljabba to the right of the Salt Range near the Choa Ganj Ali Shah village. The booming coal mining business further endangers the animal Though hunting the partridge and urial is only allowed in just one of five tehsils in the area, Talagang, and that too just from December 1 to January 31, gunshots could be heard in the other four tehsils as well, as poachers try to slip past the authorities.

Influential landlords and their friends and relatives are able to hunt as much as they want without having to worry about the consequences.

The son of a sitting MPA is among those who continue to defy the authorities to hunt the bird. Some poachers don’t even let the bird rest at night and shoot them while they sleep.

Though the Wildlife Department is trying its best to control the poaching, because the area is so large, the resource-starved department is struggling to do so.

While wildlife departments in other countries are allocated funds for the conservation of wildlife, in Pakistan the department is seen as a revenue source for provincial governments.

The District Wildlife Department of Chakwal earned Rs843,684 for the government in 2013, despite a shortage of staff and infrastructure. The department has just one car that is used to patrol the whole district. Six posts are vacant and remain to be filled.

The department still continues with its efforts to protect the wildlife in the area. District Wildlife Officer Khalid Hassan Sahi told Dawn that 194 poachers were arrested in 2014 alone.

“We are trying our best to control the poaching of the partridge and the urial and because of our efforts the numbers have improved,” he said.

The officer also vowed to abolish illegal private game reserves.

Published in Dawn, December 6th, 2015