Former national shooting champion and seasoned hunter Asadullah Bazai is on a mission to save Pakistan’s endangered Sulaiman markhor, a straight-horned goat that was nearly exterminated owing to poaching and rampant hunting.
The preservation of the endangered species in Balochistan has taken a lot of time, effort, and financial resources, according to Bazai, 55.
The Sulaiman markhor is an indigenous species in Asia and a subspecies of the markhor, which is the national animal of Pakistan.
The animal is mostly found in the mountainous areas of Balochistan’s Torghar and Takatu districts, while it is also found in smaller numbers in the highlands and woods of Ziarat, Sherani, and Zhob districts.
The father of five, Bazai, gave up hunting and started the effort to rescue the Sulaiman markhor in 2002. He has represented Pakistan in a number of international shooting competitions.
His squad, which is made up of a number of former amateur hunters and wildlife photographers, works throughout the more than 150-kilometer Takatu range, which is situated northeast of Quetta.
After meeting some Hungarian rifle shooters in 2002 during a competition in Karachi, Bazai decided against killing animals.
“I was a hunter before that event, but it changed my life and made me a conservator. One of them advised me to use a camera instead of a rifle when shooting live animals, he said to Anadolu.
