KARACHI: The federal government has issued special permits to King of Bahrain Sheikh Hamad bin Isa bin Salman Al-Khalifa and five of his associates to hunt the internationally protected houbara bustard during the season 2017-18.

According to sources, prominent among the five other members of the elite club of houbara hunters are the king’s uncle, the commander-in-chief of armed forces, the interior minister and the king’s adviser on defence.

A resident of colder Central Asian region, houbara bustard avoiding harsh weather conditions in its habitat migrates every year to spend its winters in relatively warm environment in Pakistan and returns to its habitat after the winter.

Owing to the dwindling global population of houbara bustard, it is not only protected under the international conservation conventions, but its hunting is also banned under the national / local wildlife protection laws, and natives are not allowed to hunt it.

But the federal government issues special permits every year to the ruling elite of the Gulf states.

According to the sources, the special permits have been issued by the foreign ministry’s deputy chief of protocol (P&I) Naeem Iqbal Cheema through a letter No: DCB (P&I) – 19/6/2017-18 (Allocations/Bahrain) and sent to the Islamabad-based Embassy of Bahrain so that these could be dispatched to the hunters residing in the tiny Gulf island.

The letter says: “The ministry of foreign affairs of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan presents its compliments to the Embassy of the Kingdom of Bahrain in Islamabad and has the honour to state that the Government of Pakistan has conveyed its recommendation to the authorities in the concerned province for the allocation of following area to Sheikh Hamad bin Isa bin Salman Al-Khalifa, King of the Kingdom of Bahrain, for hunting houbara bustard in Tehsils Thano Bula Khan, Kotri, Manjhand and Sehwan of Jamshoro district for the season 2017-18.

“The respective provincial government has also been requested to issue the necessary permit in this regard. The code of conduct for hunting season for 2017-18 is also attached.”

The king’s uncle Sheikh Ebrahim bin Hamad bin Abdullah Al-Khalifa has been allocated Shah Bandar tehsil of Sindh’s Sujawal district.

The commander-in-chief of the armed forces of Bahrain, Sheikh Khalifa bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa, has been allocated Toisar tehsil of Musakhel district in Balochistan.

The King’s Adviser on Defence, Sheikh Abdullah bin Salman Al-Khalifa, has been allocated Jati tehsil of Sujawal district.

Bahrain’s Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid bin Abdullah Al-Khalifa has been allocated Jaffarabad district in Balochistan.

Sheikh Mohammad bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, a member of Bahrain’s ruling family, has been allocated Malir district (excluding Malir Cantonment) in Sindh.

According to the code of conduct, which is rarely implemented, a hunter can hunt 100 houbara bustards within a maximum period of 10 days between Nov 1, 2017 and Jan 31, 2018 only through falconry as use of firearms is prohibited.

The permit is person-specific and only notified hunter is allowed to hunt.

Trapping, netting and taking of live houbara bustards, their eggs and chicks from their habitat and the bird’s trans-boundary export are not allowed under the code of conduct.

Published in Dawn, December 23rd, 2017