Royals from Bahrain also given Houbara bustard hunting permits

E-Paper | October 17, 2026

Royals from Bahrain also given Houbara bustard hunting permits

Bhagwandas Published December 22, 2020

The federal government has issued special permits to King of Bahrain Hamad bin Isa bin Salman Al-Khalifa and six other members of the royal family to hunt the internationally protected Houbara bustards during the hunting season 2020-21. — File photo

KARACHI: The federal government has issued special permits to King of Bahrain Hamad bin Isa bin Salman Al-Khalifa and six other members of the royal family to hunt the internationally protected Houbara bustards during the hunting season 2020-21, it is learnt here reliably.

According to sources, others in the elite list of hunters include the king’s uncle, interior minister, commander-in-chief of defence forces, king’s defence adviser and a couple of his cousins.

The sources said that the hunting permits were person -specific and the hunting could be carried out for 10 days only with the bag limit being 100 bustards.

The sources said that the special hunting permits issued by the foreign ministry’s deputy chief of protocol (P&I) were delivered to the Embassy of the Kingdom of Bahrain in Islamabad so that these could be sent to the hunters belonging to the tiny island country in the Gulf.

The king and members of his family will hunt the internationally protected birds

The permits mentioned the names of the hunters and the areas allocated to them.

King Hamad bin Isa bin Salman Al-Khalifa can hunt in Jamshoro district of Sindh, including tehsils of Thano Bula Khan, Kotri, Manjhand and Sehwan.

The king’s uncle and senior member of the ruling family, Sheikh Ebrahim bin Hamad bin Abdullah Al-Khalifa, can hunt in tehsil Shah Bander of Sujawal district in Sindh.

The interior minister and the king’s cousin, Lt Gen Sheikh Rashid bin Abdullah Al-Khalifa, has been allocated Jaffarabad district in Balochistan and Naushehro Feroz district in Sindh for hunting.

Commander-in-chief of the Bahrain Defence Force Field Marshal Sheikh Khalifa bin Ahmad Al-Khalifa has been allotted tehsil Toisar of Musakhel district in Balochistan.

The king’s adviser on defence affairs, Sheikh Abdullah bin Salman Al-Khalifa, has been allocated tehsil Jati of Sujawal district in Sindh.

King’s cousin Sheikh Ahmed bin Ali Al-Khalifa has been allocated Hyderabad district and Malir district (excluding Malir Cantonment and Dhabeji areas) in Sindh.

King’s another cousin Sheikh Khalid bin Rashid bin Abdullah Al-Khalifa has been allotted Tando Mohammad Khan district in Sindh.

Published in Dawn, December 22nd, 2020

Pakistan

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M. Emad

Dec 22, 2020 08:58am

Houbara bustard will be disappeared soon from the world due to Pakistani hunting permits.

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Talha Lodhi

Dec 22, 2020 09:03am

The "internationally protected bird" is protected in pakistan by the initiatives sponsored by these same royals. If it wasnt for thier private game reserves, this bird would be hunted to extinction by local Royals and thier cronies.

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Rajesh

Dec 22, 2020 09:09am

Idiots

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Baasha

Dec 22, 2020 09:17am

Happiest bird houbara for staying in that place

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ram11

Dec 22, 2020 09:28am

Hunting down the bird to maintain balance is different from hunting for pleasure. No country in the world permit these low esteem activities

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Sarcasm

Dec 22, 2020 09:50am

Smart move by PMIK ,now endangered birds will have to sacrifice themselves for the incompetency of superpower Pakistan.

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AAA

Dec 22, 2020 09:59am

PTI lowest, doing diplomacy over innocent animals.

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Talha Lodhi

Dec 22, 2020 10:39am

@ram11, on the contrary almost all countries allow hunting as sports

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Kusmo Dar

Dec 22, 2020 10:44am

Not surprised in a country where a foreign celebrity had to rescue a gifted elephant, even human lives are low on list of protected species. The bustard gets money to their namesakes with an a.

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Sarcasm

Dec 22, 2020 10:51am

@Talha Lodhi, how shamelessly you are trying to justify slaughter of these foreign endangered birds.

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Gurcharan Singh

Dec 22, 2020 10:52am

Cornerstone of Pakistan's foreign diplomacy.

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Laila

Dec 22, 2020 12:49pm

This is just pathetic. It's internationally protected but because we are dependent on the foreign funding and loans from Saudi Arabia we can't tell them no? Have the government no pride? Its protected species. Why are we compromising on this???

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Laila

Dec 22, 2020 12:51pm

@Talha Lodhi, would you care to substantiate that with that evidence? Go on tell us what these alleged initiatives are by the Saudis and Bahrainis and how they help when the birds are internationally protected yet we allow Saudis and Bahrainis to hunt them?

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abul fazl

Dec 22, 2020 01:43pm

the hunting of houbara bustards , export of falcons and birds of prey must be banned

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Critic

Dec 22, 2020 02:22pm

PTI true cruel face

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Sarcasm

Dec 22, 2020 02:29pm

@Laila, beggars are not choosers.

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kumar

Dec 22, 2020 02:42pm

Hunt them all and be done with this mockery. It is a only a matter of time

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Ibrahim S

Dec 22, 2020 05:01pm

We love serving our masters . First British and now Arabs. We shift our loyalties to the higher bidder .

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SHAHID SATTAR

Dec 22, 2020 05:57pm

Any of the neighboring royals or other dignitaries who grant facilities for providing extra ordinary services to them at the cost of this nation left from grant of permits to kill me internationally protected bird species? Contact now and get on the bandwagon for the kill.

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Erum Aziz

Dec 22, 2020 07:00pm

@M. Emad, takecare about India. We are here to take care about Pakistan my dear..

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Erum Aziz

Dec 22, 2020 07:06pm

@Talha Lodhi, birds would be hunted by local farmers yearly, but you never took any action nor notice in your entire life? isn't it sad...

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Erum Aziz

Dec 22, 2020 07:08pm

@ram11, In India everything happens under the table. Due to Bribe..

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Kaspar

Dec 22, 2020 11:27pm

When in opposition, IK cried hoarse about giving hunting permits to Arab Sheikhs. But in power, he coninues with the practice. Another U-turn by the master of u-turns!

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