The federal government has issued special permits to three princes from Saudi Arabia to hunt the internationally protected migratory bird, houbara bustard, in Balochistan and Punjab during the hunting season.
According to media reports, the hunting permit holders include the governor of Tabuk and two sons of the former King of Saudi Arabia, the late Saud bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud.
The federal foreign ministry’s hunting permit was sent to the permit holders through the Saudi Arabia’s embassy in Islamabad.
The permit holders have been allowed to hunt 100 houbara bustards in 10 days during the hunting season which started on Nov 1 and will conclude on Jan 31, 2017.
Residents of colder Central Asian regions, houbara bustards migrate every year to spend winters in a relatively warmer environment like Pakistan.
Governor Fahad attracted attention when the media highlighted that he had hunted approximately 2,100 houbara bustards during his trip in Chaghai between 2014 and 2015.
After several protests and judicial intervention, the federal government did not issue any hunting permits to Arabs in the following hunting season. However, Prince Fahad visited Chaghai with many of his falcons in the 2015-16 hunting season. When the media questioned the government about this, it said the prince was in the area to visit and monitor development work.
The federal government usually issues hunting permits to Arabs in all four provinces, and the ruling elite, including politicians and bureaucrats from Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan, welcome them to their areas to hunt the protected bird.
READ MORE: KP bans Arab sheikhs from hunting houbara bustard
