Pakistan's Houbara Bustard & Arab Beduin Royals - Rampant poaching

The government has once again issued several Gulf royal families dozens of permits to come and hunt (read poach) the threatened Houbara Bustard, alias Tiloor in the local language, in different areas of Pakistan. It is not the first time a Pakistani government has done so. The violation of a written law carries no value for our rulers when it comes to please their patrons inside or outside the country. The Houbara Bustard, a migratory bird that nests in Pakistan during winter before flying back to Siberia in spring, has been listed in the International Union of Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as an endangered species. Estimates say a decrease of 30 percent of this specie has occurred in Pakistan alone. According to a report, almost 25,000 Houbara Bustards arrive in the arid areas of Pakistan every year and approximately 6,000 of them are killed just to serve the Arab Sheikhs’ blood sport. Pakistan has its own laws that prohibit these hunting safaris and in fact favour the preservation of this specie. But in an antinomian country such as Pakistan, where no law can restrict the powerful, such licences are mere formalities and the poachers, mostly from wealthy Gulf States, exceed the permissible bag-limit by a ridiculously high number.

Earlier this year, a Saudi royal gunned down 2,100 Tiloors in a fortnight, including areas that were out-of-bounds. Clearly, nothing can stop ‘their highnesses’ and ‘their majesties’ once they are out on their hunting sprees, irrespective of the ecological and environmental damage.

Thankfully, not everyone in this country is wedded to lawlessness and insensitivity. Some institutions did move to seek an answer on this illegal activity. The Lahore High Court sought a reply from the foreign secretary on a contempt petition as the court had already issued a stay order on the earlier issuance of permits that violated the Punjab Wildlife Act, 2007. Under that Act, the federal government is not allowed to issue permits without consulting the respective provincial wildlife departments. Similarly, the Sindh High Court too has served notices to the concerned authorities to justify their position and the legality of the permits. It remains to be seen what ensues as a result of these court actions, but in order to prevent these poaching sprees that completely violate national and international laws, stringent action must be taken if we wish to provide a hospitable environment to endangered species.