Gilgit (Meraj Alam): The Gilgit-Baltistan Wildlife department has announced the licence fee for trophy hunting programme for current year for foreign and local hunters. The licence fee has been announced for 113 local wild species. The hunting season in the region starts in November and ends in April.

The Pakistan’s national animal, markhor tops in the list with US$100,000 hunting fee.

The permit auction ceremony was held in Gilgit on Thursday. The ceremony was presided over by GB Forest and Wildlife Minister Imran Wakeel and attended by a large number of wildlife officials.

According to the forest department, the hunting permits for four markhors, 14 blue sheep, and 95 ibexes were auctioned.

The licence fees for markhors is fixed $100,000, Himalayan blue sheep $10,000 and ibex $3,600, respectively.

A department official said that the trophy hunting quota was decided on the basis of an annual survey conducted by wildlife experts in coordination with local organizations.

One of the significant features of the trophy hunting programme is that 80 per cent of the hunting fee goes towards the local community while the government spends the remaining 20 per cent on projects for the welfare of forests and wildlife parks.

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