Perhaps the most important conservation success story of the collaboration between the University of Montana and the NWFP wildlife department has been the story of the flare-horned Markhor (Capra falconeri) (Fig. 1). Markhor are one of the most endangered ungulates in central Asia, listed as Appendix I under CITES primarily because of overhunting and habitat loss. Markhor currently occur in 4-5 subpopulations in Pakistan (Fig. 2) (although current taxonomy is confused), and restoring Markhor populations is an important conservation goal. Schaller’s (1977) work in the Chitral Gol National Park area for example, showed only 100-150 in the entire park.
However, through the 1980’s and 1990’s, our Pakistani graduate students developed a successful community-based trophy hunting program to help restore Markhor populations in Pakistan, and NWFP was one of the first focus areas. Management plans were focused on community based involvement, management plan, and sufficient monitoring to ensure that a trophy hunting program would be successful. With management plans in hand, the Pakistani government then worked with CITES to obtain special export permits for up to 4 Markhor permits for NWFP of Pakistan.
NWFP Wildlife Department auctions off the Markhor licenses every year and the permit fee is received in US dollars. Since the first year in 1998 when 3 permits were allocated, 33 permits (with an 85% success rate) have been allocated (3-4 / year) for foreign hunters in 4 different hunting areas; Chitral Gol, Tooshi Shasha, Gehrait, and Kaigah. Funding from the trophy hunts are managed through a cooperative agreement between the provincial and federal government with the local village through a village conservation committee that oversee’s allocation of the funds. Each permit was auctioned for an average of $32,000 USD, and since 1998, has generated $1,057,500 USD in revenues, 79.7% of which ($843,300) went directly to the local community in which the hunt occurred.
As a result of this successful community based trophy hunting program, Markhor popupulations have increased in the three conservancy areas that the program is being implemented in. Neighbouring communities reduced poaching and hunting of Markhor, improved grazing on prime Markhor winter ranges through range management of domestic livestock, and decreased conflicts with Markhor. These changes benefitted Markhor populations. For example, since 1989, Markhor populations in Chitral Gol, for example, Mhave increased from ~ 150 to almost 700 (Figure 3). The increase was most rapid following the initiation of the community based trophy hunting program in 1998; since 1998, the population has grown at 12% per year. The nearby Tooshi Sasha conservancy the population increased from 137 to 545 Markhor during the same period, again, as a result of changes to community based conservation activities encouraged because of the success of the funding generated from the Trophy hunting program.
Funding from the village conservation funds have been used for sustainable development projects, education, and health care, as well as for funding monitoring and research on the Markhor populations. Benefits have likely extended beyond the Markhor themselves and the surrounding human communities to possibly increase Snow leopard populations. As one of the main prey species for Snow Leopards, increasing Markhor populations have the potential to provide more prey base for Snow leopards in the area. For example, development of a community-based trophy hunting program designed by Pakistani graduate students as part of this program, Markhor have increased, benefitting the human communities living nearby and potentially other species such as snow leopards. For example, in part because of the cooperation of the NWFP wildlife department and Dr. Mumtaz Malik, people across the world saw the first ever footage of snow leopards filmed in Chitral Gol National Park. In some small way, the conservation work of the Pakistani students trained as part of the Wildlife Biology Programs long-standing collaboration with NWFP wildlife department, made this possible.
See the first ever video footage of snow leopards filmed in Chitral Gol National Park here -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbR3cUnCdJk