Story By: Lee Bullen,Sub Editor: Joseph Golder,Agency: Asia Wire Report
Wildlife officials in Pakistan have defended charging eye-watering amounts to allow foreign hunters to kill a rare local species of mountain goat with spectacular curling horns once loved by British hunters as a trophy.
The markhor is a large mountain goat which is also the national animal of Pakistan, where it is known locally as the “screw horned goat”.
The tradition of hunting them originated with the British where it was regarded as a particularly dangerous animal to hunt because of the need to pursue them in often high mountainous terrain.
The author of the hunting book “The rifle in Kashmir”, Arthur Brinckman, even wrote that there was no “finer sport” than hunting markhoor, and famous shooters of the markhor include former US president Theodore Roosevelt’s brother Elliott who shot two in 1881.
There are reportedly just under 6000 living in the wild, which has led to them being classified as a near threatened species, but conservation projects are in part being funded by selling what are reportedly the most expensive hunting licences in the world to shoot the animal.
Officials have now revealed that an American hunter has reportedly paid over 90,000 GBP for an official permit to kill a markhor – the national animal of Pakistan – in its natural habitat.
According to the wildlife department of Pakistan’s Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Department, US citizen Michael Carpitino paid 117,250 USD (90,225 GBP) for the privilege of killing a markhor (Capra falconeri).
They said he was the fourth foreign hunter to kill the wild animal this season after another American, a Spaniard and an Italian also paid eye-watering sums to hunt the national animal.
Carpitino reportedly spent three days in the forest of Bara Chashma Kaigah forest to kill this season’s fourth markhor, and the ‘trophy’ animal was nine years old with 44-inch horns, according to local media.
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Department chief conservationist Dr Muhsin Farooq told local media: “The trophy hunting is a successful programme through which we have collected the highest prices in the world for permitting to hunt a markhor, as the Toshi-2 permit was awarded for 150,000-USD (115,475-GBP) fees.”
He added that 80 percent of the money raised is given back to the local community while the rest is used for markhor conservation projects.
According to reports, a Spanish citizen paid 83,000 USD (63,880 GBP) to hunt a markhor earlier this month after the permit was auctioned by the local authorities.
Last month, Italian hunter Carlo Pasco successfully hunted a flared-horned markhor in the Skardu conservation area, according to local media.
In mid-December, US national Joe Lawrence Walreven reportedly killed a Kashmir markhor in Lower Chitral after obtaining permit from the wildlife department for 140,000 USD (107,765 GBP).
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