American national hunts rare markhor in Chitral

CHITRAL: An American hunter of Pakistani origin, Saeedullah Khan Paracha, hunted a rare specie markhor with 47-inch long horns in Chitral.

Paracha hunted the animal under trophy hunting permit issued by the local wildlife department in mountainous terrain of Chitral and paid the licence fee of 120,000 US dollars for the purpose.

Markhor is a large specie of wild goat listed as ‘near threatened’. It is also the national animal of Pakistan.

According to Divisional Forest Office (DFO), Wildlife Chitral, the markhor population has increased owing to their proper care.

Shahzada Mir Hasanatuddin Shazada Gul, General secretary of Alburkhan Village conservancy committee, said that the local community has taken it upon itself to protect markhor and check illegal poaching of the animal.

He said that 80% fund generated from markhor hunting trophy is utilized for the welfare of the local community and 20% goes to the wild life department. The money is spent on development of the areas, he added.

Shazada Gul said that a number of development schemes undertaken in the area were being funded through the money generated from trophy hunting.