LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Thursday put a complete ban on hunting houbara bustard and other rare migrating birds till a final survey of the hunting areas by a commission.

Earlier, the commission headed by Dr Pervez Hassan submitted a report to court and recommended a ban on the hunting to protect breed of houbara bustard. Officials of forest department and government’s law officer were also on the commission.

Chief Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah was hearing two identical petitions moved by Advocate Sheraz Zaka and Kaleem Ilyas seeking a ban on the hunting of the internationally protected bird and cancellation of permits issued to foreign dignitaries.

The commission in its report said the hunting of bustard might endanger this rare species. It said the commission was not sure if the breed of the bird was under any serious threat of being vanished from the planet as no survey had so far been conducted to the effect. It said the over-exploitation remained the foremost threat to the species, primarily as a result of unsustainable levels of hunting and poaching.

The commission suggested that the foreign ministry should be barred from issuing hunting permits and the ministry of climate change should be asked for issuance of such permits in future for their (bustards) safety and protection.

It urged the court to restrain the government from issuing hunting permits for bustards until December 2018.

Published in Dawn, January 26th, 2018