CHITRAL: A Canadian national hunted down a nine-year-old male Kashmir markhor in Gahirait conservancy here. The animal’s horn measured 39 inches for which Brian Adam Hauck had obtained a permit from the wildlife department for Rs11 million.

Sub-divisional officer of wildlife department, Altaf Ali Shah, told Dawn that the hunter had to wait for a day in Gahirait village as fog enveloped the habitat of markhor. The hunter did not face any trouble in locating and making choice of the trophy-sized animal once the weather was clear.

“At Panji area of Gahirait Gol, he chose an animal out of a herd and started approaching his target and fired a shot with his rifle from a range of 515 metres leaving the goat dead instantly,” said the wildlife official.

“The hunter was joyous at his success and termed it a unique experience. He stayed with the local community that night before leaving for Peshawar,” he said.

He recalled that in 2013, a Russian hunter had hunted a 38-inch-long markhor in Gahirait-Golen conservancy which is known for its high density of Kashmir markhor and ibex.

Mr Shah said 80 per cent of the permit fee would go to the local community, adding population of markhor had reached a satisfactory level due to involvement of local communities in conservation work during the last three decades.

The wildlife official said the community members guarded the wild animals in the conservancy and no one dared to poach them as they knew that poaching of a markhor meant a loss of about Rs10 million.

Published in Dawn, December 18th, 2017