Two booked for poaching in Chitral

CHITRAL, Dec 24: The provincial wildlife department has booked two villagers from Broze over a bid to poach a Kashmir markhor in Dumoon jungle. Divisional forest officer of Chitral Imtiaz Hussain on Monday said a case had been filed with the subdivisional magistrate against Fazle Shah and Lateef Khan. He said a rifle seized from the two by community watcher Mehrab Gul would also be produced in the court. President of village conservation committee, Broze, Jehangir Jigar said the illegal hunting of wildlife, including markhor, was highly discouraged in the local pastures by the community. He said around 80 per cent of the income generated by the sale of markhor hunting permits went to the welfare of the community and that was why the local residents felt themselves bound by duty to protect animals. Mr Jigar said the committee had appointed community watchers to check markhor poaching in the area. He demanded cash prize for watcher Mehrab Gul for risking his life to protect markhors against poaching.–Zahiruddin]]>