LAHORE: Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday lifted the temporary ban on houbara bustard hunting and LHC Chief Justice Mansoor Ali Shah remarked that the ban on hunting was imposed for a year keeping in mind the facts that were ascertained through a report submitted to the LHC.
Justice Mansoor Ali Shah stated that more facts have surfaced after a detailed review of the report and that further arguments are before reaching any conclusion on the matter.
The hearing of the case has been adjourned till February 8.
Earlier, according to a local English daily, a special permit was issued by the federal government to the Governor of Tabuk, Saudi Arabian Prince Fahd bin Sultan Abdul Aziz Al Saud, to hunt the endangered houbara bustard in 2017-18.
Prince Fahd had also hunted over 2,100 houbara bustards during his three-week long safari a couple of years ago.
A resident of the colder Central Asian region, houbara bustard, to avoid harsh weather conditions in its habitat migrates every year to spend winters in the relatively warm environment of Pakistan.
Owing to the dwindling global population of houbara bustard, it is not only protected under the international conservation conventions, but its hunting is also banned under the national local wildlife protection laws, and natives are not allowed to hunt it.
