For decades Pakistan’s successive federal governments have been issuing Gulf sheikhs with permits to hunt migratory Houbara bustards, an endangered species.
The areas of Thar Desert in Sindh province, coastal parts of Balochistan and Chowlistan in southern Punjab are the favorite hunting areas. Locals have been long resenting such barbaric hunting practices which they claim inflicts irreparable damage on the fauna and flora of the area.
In addition to the above hunting practices, Baloch residents have also opposed the shocking practice of infants being smuggled to Gulf countries to use as jockey for camel racing, a practice banned in many Gulf countries.
The fact is that Pakistanis are not allowed to hunt Houbara bustards which are protected under various international conventions and agreements Pakistan has signed.
Pakistan’s own various wildlife protection laws have put a ban on Houbara hunting, the meat of which many claim has aphrodisiac power. Estimates say there are between 50,000 and 100,000 Houbara left in the world.
After much brouhaha and petition from bird’s lovers, the Pakistan’s Supreme Court ordered a complete ban on hunting the bird. The court in its order cited several international conventions on conservation, to which Pakistan is a signatory.
However, the federal government approached the apex court with a petition that a blanket ban on Houbara hunting has jeopardized Pakistan’s relationship with the middle-east nations.
The government argued that inviting Arab dignitaries to hunt in Pakistan was a “cornerstone of foreign policy” and the ban be reconsidered. The petition further argued that the hunting restriction has adversely impacted Pakistan’s relations with the Gulf nations.
Later, in January this year the Supreme Court of Pakistan lifted the ban on hunting.
Every year Pakistan government issues a restricted number of hunting permits for Arab sheikhs for three-month hunting season that usually begins from Nov 1 and concludes on January 31, the next year.
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