Daily Times

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has banned the hunting of Houbara bustards after the federal government contacted the KP government for allowing the Qatari Princes hunt the Houbara bustard bird in KP.

Qatari Prince Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al-Thani is among those in whose name the permits have been issued by the federal government and nowadays he is busy in Punjab in the hunting of Houbara bustard birds.

According to the information the areas allocated for hunting to Prince Hamad are Punjab’s Bhakkar and Jhang districts. He has been allowed to hunt down 100 birds during a 10-day period.

The Houbara bustard is not only protected under various international conventions and agreements signed by the country but its hunting is also banned under the local wildlife protection laws. Pakistanis are not allowed to hunt it but it is much sought after by Arab hunters.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman, Imran Khan, said in its tweet message to the KP government: ” I am going to speak to the KP CM not to allow anyone to hunt Houbara bustards in KP as it is a protected bird and hunting it is illegal”,

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister, Pervez Khattak, also said in his statement that the federal government contacted the KP government to allow the Qatri Princes for the hunting of Houbara bustard birds in KP.

He added that no one would be allowed to hunting the precious birds and if anyone violates he rules he would be facing serious consequences.

The CM warned that the provincial government would not take any pressure and would not allow or permit anyone who eliminates “our natural heritage and precious birds”.

Talking to Daily Times, the Special Assistant to the CM on Environmentm Ishtiaq Ormarm said that after the 18th Amendment environment and wild life are provincial subjects.

He further said that the KP government takes extra steps to protect the environment as well as precious birds and precious animals, adding that anyone who violates the rules of the law would be facing the consequences.

He added that last year the KP government also fined a Qatri Prince in March, 2015 and seized all the birds and fined them Rs. 80,000 for hunting illegally at D.I. Khan, a district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

He further added that the KP government takes extra steps to protect the environment and for this purpose the “Billion Tree Sunami” was an initiative of the provincial government.

He claimed that before the PTI government, the timber mafia was active in KP as well adding that anyone could hunt the precious birds and animals in the mountainous areas of the province. He also said that the PTI government took extra steps and had completely banned the timber mafia in the province.

Ishtiaq Ormar said that the provincial government would not take any pressure from the federal government and would take all those steps to protect its environment, adding that the law was the same for everyone and serious action would be taken against those who violate the law.