Pakistan: 14 Arab Royals Given Permit To Hunt Endangered Houbara Bustard This Winter

Sindh province issued the hunting permits for Falconry Season 2021-2022 after the Pakistan government sent the ‘recommendations’.

Houbara Bustard (AFP Photo)

New Delhi: Pakistan’s Sindh province has this year granted permission to as many as 14 Arab dignitaries to hunt internationally protected bird species houbara bustard, Dawn reported.

Among the hunters are the UAE president, the prime minister of Qatar and the king of Bahrain.

Quoting sources, the Dawn report said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had forwarded the “recommendations” for Falconry Season 2021-2022 (excluding protected areas) to the Sindh government, with a request to issue necessary permits in accordance with the country’s wildlife law.

The provincial government approved the 14 names during a meeting two weeks ago, with each allotted a specific area for hunting.

The hunting of houbara bustards is being allowed though a case challenging the practice has been pending in a Pakistan court for some time now.

In a statement released in 2020, the World Wide Fund (WWF) for Nature-Pakistan had called for an immediate ban, keeping in view the houbara bustards’ vulnerable IUCN Red List status. The Asian houbara bustard, also known as MacQueen’s bustard (Chlamydotis macqueenii) faces threats of extinction in the entire region. Its hunting is otherwise banned in Pakistan, but the country makes an exception for the Arab royals.

Arab dignitaries have been for a long time granted special hunting permits. While the Pakistan government used to directly issue the permits earlier, the procedure was changed after 2016-17 reportedly after the matter reached court.

“Now, the power of granting permission for hunting lies with respective provincial governments,” Dawn quoted a wildlife expert as saying. 

The Arab royals hunt the bird as a sport, and the special permission is viewed as “soft diplomacy” between Pakistan and the Arab world.

Last week, a Karachi-based reporter, Nazim Jokhio, who made videos about "illegal" hunting of the bustard, was murdered soon after he posted a video saying he had been receiving threats. Reporters Without Borders has called for an independent investigation into his murder. Two persons have been arrested in connection with the murder, according to media reports.

Nazim Jokhiyo has been brutally killed just because he made a video clip of those unknown Arabs during there activity in his city? #JusticeForNazimJokhio pic.twitter.com/8jmfGiD1Iz

— Dr. Nazia Memon (@NaziaMemon01) November 4, 2021

Among those arrested is a member of the Sindh provincial assembly, Jam Awais Bijar Khan Jokhio, at whose invitation the journalist had reportedly gone to cover a "hunting party". A Dawn report said Jokhio's body was found at the politican’s farmhouse. The legislator surrendered late Thursday, following which a local court sent him in three-day police remand.

About Houbara Bustard

Native to Central Asia, the Asian houbara bustard migrates to the Indian subcontinent, including Pakistan, during the winters, travelling 2,000-odd kilometres. They return with the onset of summer. The bird is similar to the Great Indian Bustard, native to India and also endangered. 

The meat of the Asian houbara is believed to be an aphrodisiac.

Bustards are a vulnerable species and most countries ban their hunting. In 2015, Pakistan’s Supreme Court also completely banned the practice, but the decision was withdrawn in 2016. Allotting special hunting permits is part of Pakistan’s foreign policy. According to reports, the government had challenged the ban, arguing that wealthy Arab hunters brought investment to the areas and that the ban would affect the country’s relations with the Gulf nations.

A 2016 BBC report quoted a Pakistan senator as saying that the dignitaries who come to hunt the bird pay “10m Pakistani rupees [$95,000; £66,500] for hunting 50 birds in season”.

The IUCN has said bustard hunting in Pakistan is “unsustainable”. The global population of the bird ranges between 50,000 and 1,00,000, according to the BBC report.

A Karachi-based reporter, Nazim Jokhio, who made videos about hunting of the bustard, was murdered on Wednesday soon after he posted a video saying he had been receiving threats. Reporters Without Borders has called for an independent investigation into his murder. Two persons have been arrested in connection with the murder, local media reported.

Hunting Permits Issued This Year

According to the Dawn report, Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim Bin Hammad Al-Thani has been allowed to hunt in Diplo and Islamkot of Tharparkar district, while King of Bahrain Hammad bin Isa bin Salman Al-Khalifa has been given Jamshoro district. 

UAE President and Abu Dhabi ruler Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan will hunt in Sukkur, Ghotki, Sanghar, Nawabshah and Khairpur districts of Sindh — barring some areas such as the Sindh desert safari and the area across Nara Canal.

Khairpur, Larkana, Qambar-Shahdadkot and Dadu districts have been allotted to Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahyan, a member of the UAE ruling family and the UAE president’s representative in the Western Region.

Other members of the UAE ruling family who have been granted permits, according to the report, include Major General Sheikh Ahmed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum; Sheikh Sultan Bin Tharon Al Nahyan, Member of the Executive Council of Abu Dhabi; and Sheikh Rashid bin Khalifa Al Maktoum.

Hunting permits have also been granted to Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdul Aziz Al-Thani, the prime minister of Qatar; Sheikh Fahad bin Abdul Rahman bin Hammad Al-Thani, a member of the royal family of Qatar; Sheikh Ebrahim bin Hamad bin Abdullah Al-Khalifa, a senior member of the ruling family and uncle of the king of Bahrain; Lt Gen Sheikh Rashid bin Abdullah Al-Khalifa, the first cousin of the king of Bahrain; Sheikh Abdullah bin Salman Al-Khalifa, adviser to the king of Bahrain for Defence Affairs; Sheikh Ahmed bin Ali Al-Khalifa, first cousin of the king of Bahrain; and Sheikh Khalid bin Rashid bin Abdullah Al-Khalifa, first cousin of the king of Bahrain.