Will the Riyal-khors ($1.5 Bil) now stand up against this flagrant violation of rules displayed by His Excellency? How about considering a blanket ban on “chidiya shikar?”
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A Saudi prince has poached over 2,100 internationally
protected houbara bustards in 21-day hunting safari in Chagai,
Balochistan, during which the royal also indulged in illegal hunting in
protected areas, says a report.
The
report titled ‘Visit of Prince Fahd bin Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud
regarding hunting of houbara bustard’ prepared by Jaffar Baloch,
divisional forest officer of the Balochistan forest and wildlife
department, Chagai at Dalbandin, says the prince hunted for 21 days –
from Jan 11, 2014 to Jan 31– and hunted 1,977 birds, while other members
of his party hunted an additional 123 birds, bringing the total bustard
toll to 2,100, sources said.
They said that
hunting of the internationally protected bird was banned in Pakistan
also, but the federal government issued special permits to Gulf states’
royals. Permits, which are person specific and
could not be used by anyone else, allow the holders to hunt up to100
houbara bustards in 10 days in the area allocated, excluding reserved
and protected areas.
The report dated Feb 4, 2014
(No: 216-219 HB/CHI) says that during the 21-day safari the prince
hunted the birds for 15 days in the reserved and protected areas,
poached birds in other areas for six days and took rest for two days.
Giving a breakup of date-wise as well as area-wise
details of the prince’s expedition, the report says that he hunted 112
houbara bustards in the Gut game sanctuary (Arbe pat) which is a
reserved and protected area on Jan 11, 2014.
The next two days on Jan 12 and 13th he hunted 116 and 93 birds in
the Gut game sanctuary (Sai Rek) which is also a reserved and protected
area. Then for the next two days Prince Fahd, who is also governor of
Tabuk, visited Sato Gut and hunted 82 and 80 houbaras on Jan 14 and 15,
respectively. On Jan 16, he visited Gut-i-Barooth and hunted 79
houbaras. Both these areas are not protected areas, says the report.
For the next six days the Saudi royal camped in the
Koh-i-Sultan state forest, which is a reserved and protected area, and
hunted 93, 82, 94, 97, 96 and 120 houbara bustards on Jan 17, 18, 19,
20, 21 and 22, respectively.
On Jan 23 and 24, he
continued his hunting spree in the Gut game sanctuary (Dam), which is a
reserved as well as protected area, and hunted 116 and 197 houbara
bustards, respectively.
The prince carried out
hunting of the protected bird in Thalo Station and hunted 89 houbara
bustards on Jan 25 and spent the next two days hunting the birds in Pul
Choto, killing 34 and 89 birds on Jan 26 and 27, respectively. Both of
these areas are neither reserved nor protected, says the report.
The remaining four days, Prince Fahd spent in the Gut
game sanctuary, a reserved as well as protected area, and hunted 92, 94,
119 and 97 birds on Jan 28, 29, 30, and 31, respectively. The royal
guest took rest on Feb 1 and 2 at the Bar Tagzai base camp after
bringing the grand total of his trophies to 1,977.
The report
says: “123 birds were hunted by local representatives and other
labourers of the hunting party. The total bustards hunted by Prince Fahd
bin Abdul Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud are 1,977 and total bustards
hunted by local representatives and other labourers are 123 bringing the
grand total to 2100”.
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Link: http://www.dawn.com/news/1101272/arab-royal-hunts-down-2100-houbara-bustards-in-three-week-safari
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regards