According to Gilgit Baltistan wildlife officials, Brian Douglas Williams from the US successfully hunted an Astore Markhor (Capra falconeri) in Doyan, with a ‘trophy size’ of 40-inch horns.
The hunter paid a $181,000 trophy hunting permit fee to the GB Wildlife Department (GBWD) for the hunt.
The trophy hunting programme starts in October and ends in April the following year.
The Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) government’s wildlife department on auctioned trophy hunting permits for 104 endangered animals, with the highest permit to hunt the Astor Markhor fetching a record $186,000, a wildlife department official confirmed.
The licenses included four for Astore Markhors, 14 for Blue Sheep, and 88 for Himalayan Ibex in various community conservation areas across US Trophy Hunter Pays $181,000 To Kill An Astore Markhor In Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan.
The enormous license fee to kill the rare Markhor, a long-horned goat native to Pakistan and found in its snowy northern mountains, is one of the highest in the world. The trophy hunting program was first introduced by the region’s administration in GB’s Nagar Valley in 1990, attracting international hunters who have since been paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to target a limited number of wild animals in the area. The program was later extended to different areas of GB.
Trophy hunting is viewed worldwide as a controversial practice as it involves hunting of rare animals for sport and displaying their parts as trophies. Conservationists argue the trophy hunting program in northern Pakistan prevents poaching and empowers local communities. Markhors are usually found at heights of 8,000-11,000 feet, but during the winter months descend to between 5,000-6,000 feet, which is when the hunting season kicks off.
Pakistan is famous for the Markhor, which is distinguished by its nimble and sure-footed nature, as well as long winter coat and massive spiral horns, which can grow to more than 1.5 meters (5 feet) in length for males.
The Markhor’s current estimated population is between 3,500 and 5,000, a majority of them in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), followed by Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and Balochistan.
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