A 75-year-old American hunter, Thomas Garrick Steele, legally hunted a Kashmir markhor in the Tushi-Shasha Conservancy of Lower Chitral, after securing a permit from the wildlife department for US$243,000 (Rs. 68.327 million).
Farooq Nabi, Divisional Forest Officer of the Wildlife Division in Chitral, told Dawn that the department, with assistance from the local community, helped facilitate the hunt. Steele selected a markhor with 55-inch horns, which he shot from approximately 250 metres using his American rifle.
The hunt was conducted under the government’s exportable trophy quota. Last year, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa also launched a non-exportable trophy hunting program, in which the horns remain with the wildlife department.
Around 80% of the revenue from hunting permits is directed to local communities, funding collective development projects through village conservation committees.
Each year, the wildlife department auctions permits for three Kashmir markhors across various conservancies in Chitral district.
Source: Dawn
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