CHITRAL: An octogenarian American hunted an 11-year-old Kashmir Markhor with 49.5-inch horn size in Toshi-Shasha community-managed game reserve here on Sunday.

He had obtained the hunting permit from the wildlife department of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa at a cost of 271,000 US dollars.

Divisional forest officer of Chitral wildlife division Farooq Nabi told Dawn that the American national, Ronald Joe Whitton emerged a consummate hunter, who successfully hunted down the trophy with his automatic rifle from a close range.

He said that due to the proximity of the conservancy to the road the hunter faced no difficulty in finding a markhor of the trophy size inside the conservancy with the help of the local community.

He said that it was the first trophy hunting of the season.

“Another trophy hunting will be carried out in the same conservancy at the same price, while the third will be carried out in the month of March next year, but at a lower price of 231,000 US dollars.”

Nabi said that 80 per cent of the fee of the hunting permit went to the local community, which was spent through the village conservation committee on people’s collective well-being in return for the role they played in conservation of the species.

Published in Dawn, December 9th, 2024