Saudi prince hunted endangered birds, Pakistan officials say

Karachi: A Saudi prince is alleged to have poached over 2,100 endangered and internationally protected birds in a 21-day hunting safari in southwest Pakistan`s Balochistan province, bringing the focus back on the practice that has been taking place for long.

Last year in January, the hunting of endangered Houbara Bustards by members of Arab royal families in Pakistan had led to friction along the Indo-Pak frontier, with the BSF complaining about the firing. Any firing near the border is a violation of norms and India`s Border Security Force (BSF) had lodged protests with the Pakistan Rangers. In the latest incident, Prince Fahd bin Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud hunted for 21 days using specially trained falcons ? from January 11, 2014 to January 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. These finds were part of a report titled `Visit of Prince Fahd bin Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud regarding hunting of Houbara Bustards` prepared by Jaffar Baloch, divisional forest officer of the Balochistan forest and wildlife department, Chagai at Dalbandin, Dawn News reported. The hunting of the globally protected bird is 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 to 100 Houbara Bustards in 10 days in the area allocated, excluding reserved and protected areas. According to a media report in November last year, the federal government had issued 33 special permits to dignitaries of five countries of the Gulf region to hunt the Houbara Bustard during the hunting season in 2013-14. In an annual migratory trend, thousands of bustards from cold climates come to the desert areas of Pakistan and South Asia every winter. The bustards, prized for their meat with purportedly aphrodisiac qualities, are hunted mostly by Arab royals who are traditionally enthusiastic hunters. During 2012-13, the Pakistan government issued 12 permits for about 815 trained hunting falcons for the royal families of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE and Qatar. Each permit allows a maximum of 100 birds to be hunted.