Pak province bars Qatari princes from hunting endangered birds

Qatari royal family members have been denied permission by Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial government to hunt the endangered houbara bustard, a senior lawmaker said, rejecting the federal government's plea to allow the Arab royals to hunt the rare birds.

Provincial lawmaker Ishtiaq Urmar, also an advisor to Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak for Environment, Forests and Wildlife, said he had received a letter from the federal Interior Ministry seeking permission for Qatari princes to hunt the protected bird which was refused.

The federal government's request was refused as the houbara bustard is a rare and protected bird, Urmar was quoted as saying by Dawn newspaper.
 

"Following the 18th Amendment, provinces are sovereign in taking such decisions," Urmar said, adding that "strict action will be taken against those found hunting rare animals and birds."

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is ruled by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf party headed by cricketer-turned-politician, Imran Khan.

The houbara bustard is not only protected under various international conventions and agreements signed by Pakistan but its hunting is also banned under the local wildlife protection laws.

Arab princes and their wealthy friends like to hunt Houbara bustards both as a sport and because the meat is considered an aphrodisiac.

In August 2015, Pakistan's Supreme Court had ordered a blanket ban on hunting Houbara bustards.

Despite the hunting ban, the government issues between 25 and 35 special permits annually to wealthy sheikhs, allowing them to hunt the bird in its winter habitat.

While the other three provinces - Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan - allowed rich Arabs with permits to hunt the houbara bustards, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa did not.

Quoting sources, the paper reported that recently a Qatari who had been hunting in the province was caught and fined.

Last month, The Express Tribune reported that 12 members of the Qatari royal family had reached the Raiwind estate of Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on a hush-hush visit.

A special plane carrying the Qatari royals, including Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber bin Muhammad bin Thani al Thani, landed on December 3 at Lahore's Old Airport from where they were immediately flown to Jati Umra, Sharif family's palatial estate, on a helicopter, the paper had reported.