CHITRAL: Creating a new record in the history of trophy hunting of Kashmir Markhor, a Russian national, Alexey Kim, hunted down an animal of 14 years of age, whose horns measured 55 inches, in Singoor Doke area, which buffered the Chitral Gol National Park (CGNP).

Rizwanullah Yousufzai, divisional forest officer of CGNP wildlife division, told Dawn that the non-exportable trophy hunt was unique in respect of both size of the horn and the age of the animal, while the previous highest record was 53 inches and the age was 10 years.

He said that due to the successful conservation strategy involving the local community, the population of Kashmir Markhor, once declared to be endangered species, had attained a satisfactory numerical strength, while the hunter did not face any difficulty in searching out a trophy of desired size and age.

He said that this was the fourth and the last trophy hunting of Kashmir Markhor, for which the hunter had paid $71,000 (Rs19.862 million). He said that the hunter accomplished the task with the help of the community members and the field staff of CGNP. — Correspondent