CHITRAL: An American citizen named Joseph Bradford has hunted down a Kashmiri Markhor with 40-inch horns in Toshi Shasha conservancy, using the traditional method of archery.
According to the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) wildlife department, the US hunter paid $80,000 or Rs17.12 million for the trophy-hunting permit and this was for the first time that the hunter used an arrow and a bow to hunt an animal.
KP’s chief conservator Dr Muhsin Farooq, while talking to a local newspaper, said that 80 percent of the money shall be distributed among the local community, and will be of help in conserving the wildlife in the region.
Dr Farooq added that years ago when they had started the hunting trophy programme, the population of the Markhor was estimated at around only 900. However, it has now crossed 5,000 in Chitral and Kohistan, he claimed.
He further said that they have submitted a proposal to the federal government to demand an increase in the number of hunting trophy permits as the population of the Markhor has been increasing.
Meanwhile, another official informed that Bradford had to launch his bow from a closer range while constantly being on the prowl as the markhors instinctively sensed the arrival of a hunter from afar.
He informed that the hunter successfully targeted the markhor at the second attempt from a high point covered by trees on the last day of his expedition. Markhor-hunting commonly takes place in Pakistan around this season.
