"I Kill Them Because I Like Them"

District Chitral is situated in the Hindukush mountain range in Pakistan. This district provides a corridor for migratory birds, which is a part of Flyway # 4. Birds fly from Haleji Lake near Karachi and other wetlands of the Sind province through this route to Siberia. The birds fly through this route over the Chitral River, and this river flows from Chanthar glacier at Broghil all the way down to the Chitral District and enters into Afghanistan.

These migratory birds leave their native breeding ground in Siberia during the middle of September and fly back at the end of March and April. These birds travel this distance within three to five days at a height of 4700 meters from southern Pakistan through the District of Chitral to Siberia. In this season, this district gets more rain, so these migratory birds have to come down and find a suitable patch of water to rest. When these birds land, they are often welcomed by cruel hunters, waiting sneakily behind a cover with their fingers on the triggers of their shotguns.

These selfish bird killers prepare artificial ponds one to two months before the birds migrate. A huge amount of money is spent to develop these ponds. A pond may belong to one person or a group of people. Hundreds of ponds are constructed on the riverbeds along the river in Chitral. A poaching spot is made at one corner of the pond and decoys are set to attract the birds. The location of the hunter’s poaching spots is very important for the hunters. These spots should provide enough of a view of the pond and be easily approachable. A good view ensures the results the hunters want. At approximately 3:00 a.m, these hunters take their shotguns, cover their faces with mufflers, and sneak into these huts. Most of them bring bread and hot tea in the thermoses. They enjoy their tea and wait. A good viewed poaching spot provides a good chance for hunting.

Dogs are very important part of this dangerous game. Hunters spend a lot of time and kill many sparrows to train them. These hunters must have a trained dog to retrieve the birds from the water. The use of a dog frees the slaughterer from potentially dangerous forays into cold water to retrieve the birds. Many times those famous hunters kill their dogs because they go into the water without the order of their owners. When dogs do this, the hunters often fire and become embarrassed when they see the carcass of their own dogs.

Just before dawn, as soon as these killers see some movement in the water, they start gun firing. The hunters never provide any chance for the birds to fly away. While in western countries hunters must wait until sunrise in the morning, and they must inform the birds by firing once to give the birds a chance to fly. Children who are learning to hunt in western countries are the only ones who would shoot like these adult hunters in Chitral. In Chitral, Pakistan, an expert hunter who spends most of his life killing birds never does this humane practice. They usually say, “If I miss the chance, someone else may kill that bird, so I don’t want to miss my chance.” When someone gets the chance, and kill a bird this way, they usually say, “I killed a beautiful bird.” This greediness never ends; they go back to the same poaching spots the next morning. This situation shows that hunting in Chitral is for food, but not for sport, and certainly not humane.

Eradicators start firing on these innocent birds just before dawn and this continues for a couple hours. The huge sound of the 12-gauge shotguns shows a fight between human beings and guiltless birds. There is no limit for the number of birds that a hunter can kill or when can do this. They do everything they want. Dogs jump into the water and bring the birds out, and the killers smile to see the bird. This is a brutal killing throughout the district in the spring season.

There is no strict law or law enforcement agencies in Chitral, Pakistan to control this fierce killing. Many government officials and local leaders are involved in this hunting style, so it is not possible to control such a huge killing by the few game watchers (wardens) that exist. Long ago, a game watcher (warden) from Booni, Chitral resigned from his job, and said, “If I can’t stop my elder brother from killing the innocent birds, how can I ask someone else to give up hunting?” He was a person of discipline and left his job to join another organization.
 

In western countries, there is a specific hunting season. There is law and law enforcement agencies to protect the birds. Spring is the breeding season for all kinds of birds, but in this particular area like Chitral, hunters never consider this. Elders of the area say, long ago every hunter used to kill more than fifteen hundred migratory birds per season, but now the number of the birds has been reduced. Unfortunately, no one thinks about the breeding season and the future of these vulnerable birds. While in North America, Law enforcement agencies always remain active to protect the vulnerable species.

North Americans love birds and spend a lot of time to watching these beautiful creatures of God. While in Chitral the scenario is different. Whenever an unfortunate migratory bird comes to a town, everybody becomes alert. People run towards the lovely bird, but not for watching. They have a shotgun and sneak around the bird from different angles. Some people even help to show the exact spot of the bird. Everyone wants to try to shoot first to get the opportunity. It becomes a dispute if more than one person fires at the same time and kills the bird. When the bird understands the dangerous situation and flies, all of the hunters run and the helper shows them the next spot. It looks like a grizzly bear entering in a town for predatory purposes, and people take their rifles for security reasons. Although, people of Chitral, Pakistan, are famous for peace loving, hospitality and honesty, most of them have no sympathy for these beautiful creatures of God. Usually, Chitali hunters say, “I KILL THEM BECAUSE I LIKE THEM.”   -- Nazir Canada, 21 Feb 2012.

Also read   http://www.chitralnews.com/Editorial 3.htm

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