CHITRAL (Dunya News) - An American hunter has hunted the first markhor of the season in Chitral, making history by bidding the highest amount ever in Pakistan’s hunting history.
According to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Wildlife Department Divisional Forest Officer, American citizen Ronald Joe Whitton paid a record $271,000 to obtain the permit for hunting a markhor.
Whitton hunted the markhor on Sunday under the supervision of wildlife officials in the Thoshi Shasha Conservancy area of Chitral. The hunted markhor was 11 years old, with horns measuring 49.5 inches in length.
The wildlife department sold four permits for hunting the national animal for the Thoshi One and Thoshi Two conservancies being sold for a record $271,000 each.
THE ENDANGERED ‘SNAKE EATER’
The markhor is a large wild Capra (goat) species native to South Asia and Central Asia, mainly within Pakistan, the Karakoram range, parts of Afghanistan, and the Himalayas. It is listed on the IUCN Red List as Near Threatened since 2015.
In Pakistan, it is also known as the screw-horn or screw-horned goat. The word mārkhor, meaning "snake-eater", comes from both Pashto and classical Persian languages, referencing the ancient belief that it would actively kill and consume snakes.
This regional myth is believed to stem from the "snake-like" form of the male animal’s horns, twisting and curling like a snake, possibly leading ancient peoples to associate them with snakes.
On May 2, 2024, the United Nations General Assembly declared May 24 the International Day of the Markhor.