Context: Pakistan has issued special permits to Dubai Ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, the crown prince and five other members of their family to hunt houbara bustard during the 2020-21 hunting season.

The houbara bustard

• It is a large terrestrial bird found in parts of Asia, the Middle East and Africa — is known to migrate in thousands to the Indian subcontinent every winter.
• It is similar to the critically endangered Great Indian Bustard, which is native to India.
• After breeding during the spring season, the Asian bustards migrate south to spend the winter in Pakistan, the Arabian Peninsula and nearby Southwest Asia.
• Some Asian houbara bustards live and breed in the southern part of their ranges including parts of Iran, Pakistan and Turkmenistan.
• According to the International Fund for Houbara Conservation (IFHC), roughly 33,000 Asian houbara bustards and over 22,000 of the North African houbara bustards remain today.
• The main reasons for the decline in the species’ population are poaching, unregulated hunting and the degradation of its natural habitat.
• The global population is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 2014.

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-pakistan-houbara-bustard-hunting-arab-royals-7144982/

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