GILGIT: Two Spanish citizens hunted Himalayan ibexes in Hushe Valley of Ghanche district, according to the Gilgit-Baltistan wildlife and environment department.

The two Spanish citizens, Miguel Gonzalez Menendez and Joaquin Benjamin Jimenez Labadle, successfully hunted Himalayan ibexes with horns measuring 41 and 40 inches in the community conservation area during the trophy hunting season 2022-23.

The hunters paid $6,600 for each ibex to the wildlife department.

The GB wildlife department auctioned five licences for astore markhor for $10,000, 100 licences for Himalayan ibex for $1,000 and 14 licences for blue sheep for $1,000 during the current trophy hunting season, which started from October 2022 to April 2023.

Eighty per cent of the money received from the trophy hunting programme goes to local communities and is spent on education, health and other development projects. The remaining 20 per cent is deposited in the government exchequer.

Published in Dawn, January 24th, 2023