The Supreme Court on Friday lifted a ban in Pakistan on the hunting of the houbara bustard (tiloor), a rare migrating game bird prized by Arab sheikhs.
Advertisement
However, a five-member bench presided over by the Chief Justice of Pakistan, declared an earlier decision that had placed a total ban on the hunting of houbara bustard, void.
The International Union of the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) estimates the global population of Houbara bustards at between 50,000 and 100,000 and includes it on its red list of threatened species.
IUCN considers hunting primarily using falconry as a principal threat to its conservation.
A senior Pakistani diplomat posted in an Arab country hailed on Saturday the Supreme Court’s decision to lift the ban on the hunting of houbara bustard, saying it would greatly help the government in improving bilateral diplomatic ties with Gulf countries.
The foreign dignitaries brought with them considerable finances which were exclusively used for the development of the people in the areas where hunting takes place, the review petition had pleaded.
The issue has also cast a spotlight on traditionally close ties between Pakistan and its allies in the Arab world, particularly Saudi Arabia.
The Supreme Court had imposed ban on hunting of the bird on August 19 a year ago.
Nawaz Sharif, along with powerful Army Chief General Raheel Sharif, visited Riyadh earlier this week in what his office said was an effort to ease tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
In October, the federal and Punjab, Balochistan and Sindh governments asked the court to review its decision.
In the review petitions, the federal and provincial law officers contended that their law allows conditional hunting of Houbara bustard and for this objective a code of conduct had been formulated.
Advertisement
Though the decision was not unanimous and there was one dissenting note by Justice Qazi Faez Isa who opposed the bench’s order.
