Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa trophy hunting season sets $1.9M revenue record
The grey goral’s debut in KP’s trophy hunting program helped boost revenue
Kamran Ali
Correspondent Nukta
Kamran Ali, a seasoned journalist from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, has a decade of experience covering terrorism, human rights, politics, economy, climate change, culture, and sports. With an MS in Media Studies, he has worked across print, radio, TV, and digital media, producing investigative reports and co-hosting shows that highlight critical issues.
Latifur Rehman, spokesperson for the Wildlife Department, says the Trophy Hunting Program — launched in the 1990s — has become a cornerstone of conservation and rural development.
Courtesy: Wildlife Department KP
Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province has announced a record-breaking $1.9 million revenue haul from its latest trophy hunting season, provincial authorities told Nukta on Wednesday.
Pir Musavir Khan, special assistant to the chief minister of KP, said the provincial wildlife department’s recent auction brought in $1.91 million — about PKR 542.7 million — from the sale of 39 trophy hunting permits for the 2025–26 season.
According to the KP Wildlife Department, the permits included $946,000 from four exportable markhor permits, $553,300 from nine non-exportable markhor permits, $16,042 from 20 non-exportable ibex permits, and $398,500 from six non-exportable grey goral permits.
Khan said the introduction of the grey goral, a mountain-dwelling goat-antelope, boosted revenue for the first time in the province’s trophy hunting program. “All revenue generated from the trophy hunting program will be reinvested into wildlife conservation efforts and the development of local communities living near protected habitats,” he said.
Latifur Rehman, spokesperson for the wildlife department, said the Trophy Hunting Program — launched in the 1990s — has become a cornerstone of conservation and rural development.
“Eighty percent of the revenue generated is distributed among local communities, supporting both the protection of markhor from illegal hunting and regional development, while also attracting international hunters to Pakistan’s northern areas,” he told Nukta.
Mohsin Farooque, chief conservator of the Wildlife Department, said the upcoming hunting season will run from November through April, with December and January being the most popular months. Hunters favor the winter period when markhor — typically found at elevations of 8,000 to 11,000 feet — descend to lower altitudes.
The markhor, a wild goat species and Pakistan’s national mammal, has an estimated population of 7,500, according to a 2022 study.
More than 5,000 of them live in KP, primarily in the districts of Chitral, Kohistan, and Upper Swat, Farooque said.
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