Tourism and Wildlife Society of India (TWSI), an environmental group, has urged the External Affairs Ministry to put pressure on Pakistan to ban the hunting of rare Housbara bustard, in order to save the bird.
In a letter, Harsh Vardhan, general secretary of the body which creates awareness to save the rare species of birds since the past several years in the State, said hunting of this bird in Pakistan has reduced the share of its annual winter migrants and thus it has been affecting the desert eco-system of the western part of the State.
India had put a ban on the hunting of this bird way back in 1978. The species was declared vulnerable due to nearly 60 per cent decline in its global population.
Till 1978, Arab Sheikhs were allowed to hunt the bird in the deserts of Jaisalmer. This bird is found in the desert of Rajasthan and also across the border in Pakistan.
The Pakistan Government has recently started allowing hunting of these birds. Moajim Khan, spokesman of Pakistan’s External Affairs Ministry, was recently quoted by the Pakistan newspapers saying that the Government has given permission to some Arabian royal families to hunt the bird.
This permission was given not only from a monetary perspective but for also maintaining a cordial relationship with the Arab countries, he had said.
