Members of the UAE royal family arrive in Panjgur for houbara bustards hunting

Members of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) royal family have arrived in Panjgur area of Makran division, Balochistan, on Saturday for houbara bustards hunting.

According to news source, eleven members of UAE royal family led by Shaikh Khalifa Saif-al-Nahyan and Sultan Saeed Ahmed reached Panjgur airport on a special chartered plane.

As being reported, the delegation was welcomed at the airport by Panjgur’s Deputy Commissioner Abdul Razzaq Sasoli, tribal elders Haji Attaullah Baloch, Haji Zahid Hussain, Haji Farooq-uz-Zaman and senior military and civilian officials.

The hunting party is equipped with gears and falcons to hunt houbara bustard.

Earlier in December 2020, it was reported that the federal government has issued special permits to King of Bahrain Hamad bin Isa bin Salman Al-Khalifa and six other members of the royal family to hunt the internationally protected Houbara bustards during the hunting season 2020-21. 

Furthermore, special permits were issued to Saudi Arab Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and two other members of the Saudi ruling family to hunt the internationally protected houbara bustards during the hunting season 2020-21.

According to sources, the Saudi royals had been allocated certain hunting areas in  Balochistan and Punjab.

Likewise, special permit was issued for Qatar Prince Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabor al Thani to hunt in the Jati tehsil of Sujawal last year.

The government on regular basis gives out permits for hunting the rare bird species to a number of Arab royalties, while Pakistanis are not allowed to hunt it.

Keeping in view that the houbara bustard species is threatened with global extinction. And it comes under the “vulnerable list” of (International Union for Conservation of Nature) IUCN.