CHITRAL: The first-ever International Day of Markhor was observed in the core zone of Chitral Gol National Park (CGNP) here on Friday.

The United Nations General Assembly had on May 2 declared the observance of the day on the initiative of Pakistan and eight other countries.

Jointly arranged by CGNP’s wildlife division and Chitral Gol conservation association, the event was attended by civil society activists engaged in conservation of markhor, the national animal.

A cake was cut on the occasion to mark the day, highlighting the ecological significance of the wild goat.

The participants said Chitral was privileged to have played its role in the conservation of markhor, which was on the brink of extinction in 1980s.

They said Chitral supported the biggest population of markhor in the country, where it was found in Kohistan and Kalam in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, in some valleys of Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Kashmir and in southwest Balochistan.

Trophy hunting of a markhor is carried out every year in the conservancy of Gahiret-Golen and two in the Toshi-Shasha conservancy, starting from 50,000 US dollars for a trophy hunting fee in 1996 to 125,000 US dollars in 2024.

Altaf Ali Shah, former divisional forest officer wildlife, told Dawn that the federal ministry of environment should approach the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species to enhance the number of trophies in the province in general, and in Chitral in particular, where tens of animals of trophy size died their natural death or perished every year.

He said trophy hunting could be started in the buffer zone of CGNP where population of markhor was on the rise.

He said poaching posed threat to markhor because the wildlife department had limited field force to check it.

Mr Shah said the day called for conservation of the iconic animal by seeking cooperation of communities at national and global levels.

Published in Dawn, May 25th, 2024