GILGIT: The Gilgit-Baltistan wildlife management board has announced licence fee for trophy hunting programme, 2014-15 for foreign and local hunters.

Hunting permits for twelve markhors, 50 ibexes and eight blue sheep would be auctioned in the current month. The hunting season begins in November and ends in April, every year.

DFO wildlife and environmental department Mohammad Ghaznavi told Dawn on Wednesday that the rates for trophy hunting had been finalised at a high level meeting chaired by GB Chief Secretary Sultan Sikandar Raja and attended by officials of the wildlife management board and wildlife and environment department.

The meeting fixed fee for international hunters at US dollar 60,000 for markhor, $8,000 for blue sheep, and $3,200 for ibex. For local hunters, licence fee was fixed at $60,000 for markhor, $11,000 for blue sheep, and $10 for Ibex.

It was also decided that the GB government would give 80 per cent of the proceeds to the respective local communities and the rest of 20 per cent would go to the government exchequer.

Mr Ghaznavi said that GB was home to rare species, including the Marco-Polo sheep, ibex, markhor, urial, blue sheep, lynx, snow leopard, brown and black bears, wolf, fox, marmote, chakor and Ram chakor.

He said the trophy hunting quota was created on the basis of annual surveys conducted by the wildlife experts.

The wildlife official said that the GB forest and wildlife department had identified 12 more potential areas in the region keeping in view the demand of the local communities. He said that as per the procedure, interested hunters, companies and individuals deposited $7,000 in the name of DFO wildlife prior to participating in the auction. The highest bidder is given choice for location, he added.

Successful hunters will be encouraged to make personal donations to the valley conservation funds, managed by the communities, he maintained.

The trophy hunting programme in GB is being conducted in consonance with the objectives and guidelines set out by the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species of Wildlife (CITES) in collaboration with the concerned communities of the notified areas of the region.

Published in Dawn, November 6th, 2014