Marco Polo sheep

Monday January 30, 2006 (1439 PST)

THIS has reference to Mr Ali Shah’s letter “Marco Polo sheep” (Jan 19). The correspondent seems to be oblivious of the logic and benefits of “trophy hunting”. It provides safety and security to animals and prosperity to villagers and caretakers.

Animals which were facing extinction are now thriving and their guardians who were getting only a partly sum from poachers and illegal hunters are now well rewarded. For wildlife conservation this is in vogue all over the world, except India and Kenya.

These two countries completely banned hunting but failed to conserve animals facing extinction and are now seriously thinking of introducing trophy hunting.

Man has been created with the instinct of a hunter and meat-eater. That is why God has blessed him with sets of canine and incisor teeth. In ancient time he survived by hunting. Now hunting has become a sport and man’s need for meat is met by slaughtering millions of animals all over the world daily.

For trophy hunting only those animals are offered which are old, have developed good size prize horns and have no reproduction utility, and instead interfere with other young ones. Perhaps the correspondent could not see the impressive width and curls of majestic horns — a prize trophy for any hunter. In studs and cattle farms, old and defective animals are destroyed for better breed and quality control.

CAPT SOHAIL SULTAN
Karachi

II

Trophy hunting is now considered the most scientific method of supporting conservation efforts by culling out the sick, diseased and old males from the herd who would in any case die, be eliminated or pushed out by the stronger males in the herd.

Conservation of wild animals is an essential part of healthy wildlife management that is very expensive in terms of employing guards to stop poachers and illegal hunting. India and Kenya stopped hunting totally.

The result has been disastrous. Illegal hunting soared. Hunters started killing immature males, even females and pregnant females, to satisfy the blood lust so deeply inherent in human society.

Trophy hunting in the north of Pakistan with communal help has increased the population of the wild stock. Seventy per cent of the trophy hunting money goes to the community — they thus become guards without the government paying them any salary. When they can get more money by protecting wildlife, why should they resort to illegal hunting? The wild animals become their assets.

Communal improvement like roads, small dams, electricity, clean water are financed by the money they get from the trophy hunting.

DR A.A. QURAISHY
President/Founder, Wildlife
Conservation Society,
Pakistan, Karachi

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