McQueen's bustard (Chlamydotis undulata macqueenii), commonly known as the houbara, is a regular winter visitor to the semi-arid deserts of the Punjab, Sind and Balochistan provinces. The houbara's preferred habitat are the uncultivated deserts in centr al Thal, southern Cholistan and south-western Dera Ghazi Khan. It breeds mostly in central Asiatic Russia, in the Kuzil Kum desert region, south of the Aral Sea. Breeding sites in the Nag Valley have also been identified.

According to the Wildlife Acts in Punjab, Sind and Balochistan the hunting of houbara bustards is prohibited. However, each season the ban is temporarily lifted and permits are issued to affluent Arabs sheikhs who richly reimburse the government for the p leasure of hunting the rare bird. The government's justification is that these funds can be invested in welfare and development projects.

No person other than the hunting clan and the surveillance team may join the hunters. Hence, the number of birds that can be hunted as certified on the permits is irrelevant as no one from the Wildlife Department is present to check the number of houbaras hunted.

Recently, to pre-empt being taken to court by WWF, the Punjab Government ammended the Wildlife Act and now the houbara is included in the 1st Schedule of the Punjab Wildlife Protection, Preservation, Conservation and Management Act of 1974. Hence, it is a llowed to be hunted with a bag limit of three birds between November and March with the exception of some areas. In these areas, the houbara is a protected bird, included in the 3rd Schedule.

Although the houbara has been protected in most of its habitat, it is prone to be shot on its migration route. In the areas mentioned, special permits are issued to foreign dignitaries and there is no limit to their kill. Professional trappers, whose main stronghold is the tribal areas of Rajanpur district, trap and transport the birds to the Gulf states where they are in great demand for their meat which is considered to be an aphrodisiac.

The result of this hunting pressure from Arab falconers and trappers feeding the Gulf markets, is that the houbara population all over the world has declined drastically over the past three decades. Unfortunately, base data on the extent and distribution of the houbara is very limited and cannot be utilized for management purposes. Detailed research on the biology and ecology of the houbara is a pressing need.

WWF-Pakistan has been the houbara's main defender in the public arena and its efforts have contributed to reducing the limit of houbara hunting licences and therefore the number of houbaras killed.

WWF-Pakistan, the Houbara Foundation International-Pakistan, and the National Avian Research Centre-Abu Dhabi have recently installed four satellite transmitters on wild caught houbara bustards in the Cholistan desert to monitor the bird's migratory route s. The aim is to correlate information regarding its spring migration to its breeding habitat. These transmitters will be linked to a ground monitoring station in France. Thus, for the first time in Pakistan's conservation history, the migratory routes of the houbara bustard will be ascertained through scientific means.

Following meetings with scientists from the Central Asian Republics with WWF-Pakistan, a memorandum of co-operation was signed between them in November 1995 on nature conservation. All parties agreed to conduct joint projects which will initially focus on the houbara.

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