Astore Markhor’s hunting permit of Astore was exhausted for $ 370,000 as the Department of Life and Parks of Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) on Wednesday auctioned Wednesday for 118 animals, including four Astore markers, 100 Ibex Himalaya and 14 blue sheep, for the 2025–26 eyebrow season.
The GB trophy hunting program involves local communities, which receive about 80 percent of hunting income for conservation and development projects. Although the protection of endangered species has been accredited, interested parties fear that the latest price increases can endanger their sustainability.
The bidding ceremony was held today in the forest, parks and wildlife complex in Gilgit, where a large number of costumes and hunters participated in an auction.
The owner of Shikar Safari, Raja Farhad Maqpoon, made the highest offer of $ 370,000 and won the Astore Markhor hunting permit in the Nanga Parbat Conservancy area in Astore, while the second bidder won the allowing Markhor Astore hunting for $ 286,000, the third for $ 270,000 and the four permit for $ 240,000, respectively.
The highest offer of $ 40,000 was made by Muhammad Ali Nagri by Markhor Safaris for a blue sheep permit, and the bidder also placed $ 13,000 for a Himalayas Ibex and won both.
GB conservator for parks and wildlife, Khadim Abbas, said Dawn.com That for the next season, the base price of a permit by Astore Markhor rose to $ 200,000, while Blue Sheep and Himalayan Ibex permits are established at $ 30,000 and $ 10,000, respectively.
Last year, the base rates were lower: $ 150,000 for Markhor, $ 9,000 for Blue Sheep and $ 5,500 for IBEX. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Wildlife Department had auctioned the highest Markhor hunting permit in Chitral for $ 271,000.
In the 2024-25 season, the highest offer for a Markhor reached $ 161,000, winning the GB Government more than RS30 million.
Separately, local merchants and tour operators argued that rates rises were damaging their businesses and discouraging international clients.
They warned about losses for both teams and local communities that depended on trophy hunting income.
Ikram Beg, a Gilgit -based supplier, said that participation in the program had decreased due to inflated rates, causing “devastating” impacts on the livelihoods.
“Trophous hunting can continue to be a success story in GB or fade in history as a failed experiment. The choice lies in the wisdom and vision of communities that are their true custodians,” he said.
He added that such decisions changed the objectives of the program, since the trophy hunting program was not supposed to be a commercial effort.
Similarly, Syed Sumsam Ali Bokhari, president of the International Pakistan chapter of the Safari Club, warned that the increase in prices undermined Pakistan’s competitiveness compared to neighboring countries.
