Pakistan asks Supreme Court to overturn ban on hunting rare bird

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday asked the Supreme Court to review its ban against hunting a rare desert bird whose meat is prized among Arab sheikhs as an aphrodisiac, saying controlled hunting could be a tool for preservation.

Wealthy hunting parties from the Gulf travel to Pakistan’s southwestern Baluchistan province every winter to kill the houbara bustard using hunting falcons, a practice that has sparked controversy in recent years because of the bird’s dwindling numbers.