LAHORE - WWF-Pakistan has expressed concerns over the issuance of houbara bustard hunting permits to dignitaries during the current hunting season (2014-2015). Chlamydotis macqueenii, commonly known as the Asian houbara bustard, is listed as vulnerable in the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List. It is also listed in CITES Appendix I, pertaining to species that are vulnerable to hunting and poaching due to their economic value. Populations of the bird extend from Egypt east of the Nile through Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Armenia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Russia and Mongolia to China, with unconfirmed reports from Azerbaijan and Turkey (Collar, 1979; Goriup, 1997).
Large numbers of houbara bustard are illegally hunted and trapped in Pakistan, and shipped to Arab countries for use in training falcons to hunt (Combreau, 2007). Houbara are also hunted and killed for meat. Due to efforts of Houbara Foundation International Pakistan, a non-profit organisation in Pakistan dedicated to the conservation of the houbara bustard in close collaboration with provincial wildlife departments and law-enforcement authorities, the population of the species in Pakistan which was declining rapidly two decades ago has stabilized in the last twenty years.
Earlier this year, following a report on the hunting of 2,100 houbara bustards in Balochistan well above the set bag limit of 100 individuals, the federal government announced a moratorium on houbara hunting during the 2014-2015 season, a step which was appreciated by WWF-Pakistan.  However, the issuance of the current hunting permits is in contradiction with this previous decision and WWF-Pakistan therefore urges the government to support the sustainable hunting of the species and reduce incidences of illegal and excessive hunting by local and/or foreign hunters.
WWF–Pakistan has demanded steps for conservation of houbara and its habitat in the wild, controlled hunting of the species within the framework of species conservation and to benefit local communities, a population surveys on standard formats and protocols, a framework to record the number of birds hunted in a specific area, recording any deviations from the agreed hunting regulations such as the bag limit of 100 birds, prohibition of use of guns and the 10-day maximum hunting period each season, not allowing any hunting in the houbara breeding areas, no hunting in other protected areas, especially National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries.
 WWF–Pakistan strongly recommends that the Foreign Office (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) should coordinate with the senior representatives of the Federal Climate Change Division and provincial wildlife departments for sharing of relevant information before the allocation of hunting areas to foreign dignitaries and provinces must contribute the population data before any hunting allocation is made.