Markhors : In the cross hairs of trophy hunters of Gilgit-Baltisthan

By Colonel Satish Singh Lalotra

‘A hunt based only on trophies taken , falls far short of what the ultimate goal should be’.-Fred Bear.

Since the time man (Homo sapiens) left his oldest abode i.e his cave and shook off his moniker of being a ‘cave man’ he has been in and out of controversies that has not even spared his exalted being of a king or a Maharaja. But the single biggest controversy which he has been forced to lug around has been that of a hunter. Not being a ‘Hunter -gatherer’ of the yore borne out of compulsions of mere survival on this planet , but out of a higher need to prove himself on top of the pyramid of mammals. To maintain this zeal in his very being, the end justified his means which most of the times were incongruous to the norms of a balanced way of living on this planet. ‘Trophy hunting’ is one such activity that defies all norms of civility in the modern world of ours where upholding the right to life has been enshrined in almost all the constitutions of the comity of nations of this earth. Once a pastime of the nobles or the royalty , trophy hunting used to be akin to sustaining a new breath of life in an otherwise dull life of a king or a Maharaja. There used to be official ‘Shikargahs’ (hunting grounds) of the nobilities the world over. In the case of Jammu and Kashmir, the famous valley of Kishan Ganga used to be frequented by the Dogra Maharajas as well as world famous leaders and politicians to satiate their hunger of being ‘Trigger happy’. But with the advent of so called ‘Citizen’s activism’ and a very awakened sense of good governance in the world combined with a fellow feeling towards all living beings, the rules of the game of one-upmanship as practiced by we humans have too undergone a sea change. And so have the rules of hunting wild animals which are practically non-existent now, except when human life is endangered.
As explained above that though trophy hunting has seen its curtains down, sometimes this activity gets unwavering state sponsored support. This precisely is happening in the upper reaches of Gilgit -Baltisthan where the much adored and the national animal of Pakistan-Markhor is being hunted down mercilessly ostensibly firstly to fill in the coffers of state exchequer that is garnered via state auction of trophy hunting and secondly to cater to the skewed sense of conservation of this majestic mountain goat in the occupied part Kashmir by Pakistan. The ‘Markhor’ , one of the largest and most magnificent members of the ungulate family has been trotting the mountainous terrain of central Asia, Karakorum ranges and the Himalayas for centuries. This screw -horned goat, which gets its name from a combination of two Persian and Pashto words -‘Mar'( meaning snake) and Khor( meaning eater) was once considered to be the most difficult game in all of the British India. It’s nativity to high altitude regions made the Markhor’s hunt a ‘dice with death’ for all those who dared summiting the perilous peaks of its haunt. The ruggedly built mountain goat , which can grow its horns out to 65 inches and weigh up to a 110 kgs , has an average life span of 10-12 years , in which it produces a litter of one to two young ones every six months.
Owing to excessive hunting, poaching and loss of habitat the IUCN (International union for the conservation of nature and natural resources) had classified ‘Markhor’ as an endangered species. However as per reports emanating from Pakistan, the provincial government at POK has been able to recover its Markhor population from a mere 275 in 1993 to more than 3,500 as late as 2018/19 due to its massive conservative efforts. The provincial government at POK in all its naivety and sincere bid towards further conservation efforts opened the ‘Khyber -pakhtunkwa’s ‘gates to international trophy -hunting in 1990s , thinking all along that legitimizing the hunting of this mountain goat may bring down illegal hunting activities as also generate the much required cash for its various developmental activities in the remote Gilgit-Baltisthan area. Foreign hunters have since been permitted to hound the mountain goat for a hefty government fee , 80% of which goes to the local community while the remaining 20% goes to the national exchequer. According to provincial wildlife department of POK, the introduction of trophy hunting has helped the local Markhor population grow from a mere 600 in Chitral to approximately 4,000 to 5,000 in the last three decades. But where is the truth in the fact that the wildlife department of POK is peddling correct information? Has this information not trickled down to the IUCN authorities so as to goad them to carry out a physical check of their data and match with that obtaining on ground? If the information so provided by the provincial government of POK is correct to the point, why has the IUCN an international watch dog not updated its record of endangered list of wildlife species and downgraded Markhor from an endangered species to that of ‘vulnerable’ or even ‘near threatened’?
The above contentions of provincial government of POK goes against the grain of thinking of most of the conservationists as well as renowned ecologists the world over. How can legitimizing the wanton killing of these rare mountain goats via state sponsorships act as an impetus for the conservation efforts of Pakistan ; when the same Markhor is in dire straits in the Indian part of Kashmir? The fact that this rare mountain goat which is already trending on the IUCN red list as being ‘endangered’ and being conserved with the joint efforts of forest department of  Jammu and Kashmir with tacit support of even the Indian army is seeing a virtual stagnation in its numbers calls the bluff of our western neighbour in its conservation efforts. Markhor incidentally has his footprints only in  Jammu and Kashmir (including the POK) and a small part of Afghanistan abutting the  Chitral border. Even in Jammu & Kashmir , Markhor is virtually absent from a major portion of the erstwhile state and has his footprints only in Uri at  Kazinag national park and the Hirpora wild life sanctuary spread over 341 square kilometers . In fact India has gone a step ahead and formed typical ‘ Markhor watch groups’ who keep a discreet eye on poachers, and locals that are hell bent upon exterminating this magnificent mountain goat for paltry pecuniary gains. Way back in 2003 to 2004 there were only 45 to55 odd Markhors in the entire region of  Jammu and Kashmir with an equal number of sightings. The fact that heavy livestock grazing, traffic on the Mughal road and presence of transmission lines put paid to an increase in the population of this unique mountain goat in  Jammu and Kashmir, goes to prove that conservation efforts in this case has to be handled with lot of sagacity and deft maneuvering of resources unlike our western neighbour which has taken an easier path towards conservation efforts of its national animal. The irony of the whole situation in Markhor is that despite being a national animal of Pakistan it has called in foreign hunters to hound and hunt down its national symbol, which is unthinkable and preposterous to say the least. Juxtaposing the same in our case, it is like India giving a blanket sanction to our hunters and even foreigners to hunt down our national animal the striped ‘Tiger’ just to ring in more cash registers. High time the international community of nature conservatives and the IUCN take note of the hideous game plan of our western neighbour and put an end to the exploitation of this magnificent animal that finds its presence both sides of the border.