In Pakistan, the most important threat to subpopulations outside the Torghar Conservancy is illegal hunting. Other threats include competition with livestock, risk of disease transmission from livestock (Woodford et al. 2004), habitat degradation, and habitat loss (Sheikh and Molur 2004). According to Hess et al. (1997), significant habitat loss was caused by logging in the Sulaiman Range, which they considered the most important area of straight-horned Markhor’s distribution. No recent data on the Markhor in the Sulaiman range are available and recent satellite images from 2011 and 2013 (Google Earth, accessed 2014) suggest that habitat conditions in the Sulaiman range are still largely suitable for Markhor.
Name
Emma Hemmerlé
Scientific Name
Capra falconeri
Common Name(s)
Markhor
Type of Use
Extractive (i.e., the entire organism or parts of the organism are removed from its environment)
If extractive, for the target species, is this use
Local people (e.g., individuals, communities, co-operatives)
National external (individual, groups. e.g., hunters, anglers, photographers, tourists)
International external (individual, groups. e.g., hunters, anglers, photographers, tourists)
Is the use part of a strategy to generate conservation incentives, to finance conservation, or to improve tolerance/stewardship?
Yes
Is there evidence that the use is affecting the conservation status of the species? HIDE
Yes – use is improving the status (e.g., population is increasing or stabilising, extraction effort OR catch per unit effort is decreasing or stable)
Is there evidence that the use is affecting natural selection?
Unknown/not recorded
Is there evidence that the use is affecting poaching of illegal wildlife trade?
Unknown/not reported
as a result of the project, Illegal hunting declined dramatically: as of 2012 the Markhor population had grown to an estimated 3,500; Community-based conservancies using trophy hunting in the Khyber- Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan regions have led to the recovery and substantial increase of Markhor populations.
Is there any evidence that this use of the species is having a knock-on effect on the status of non-target species
Unknown/not recorded
Unknown/not recorded
Has a valuation of financial flows from this use at the site/national/international level been recorded
the project was responsible for funding various community projects including schools and healthcare facilities, and supporting actions to reduce grazing competition with livestock.
the project was responsible for funding various community projects including schools and healthcare facilities, and supporting actions to reduce grazing competition with livestock.
Details of assessment
project contributed to the recent improvement of the conservation status of Markhor in the IUCN Red List, and it is no longer listed as threatened. Stable and increasing populations are limited to areas with sustainable hunting and protected areas;
Has the use of the species been recorded as resulting in changes to human health in this record?
Unknown/not recorded
Has the species in use been noted as being of particular disease risk to humans?
Unknown/not recorded
Has the use of the species resulted in changes to animal welfare in this record?
Unknown/not recorded
Are there particular practices which have increased the risk to human or animal health or welfare in the use of this species?
Unknown/not recorded
Does the use of this species increase susceptibility to pathogen spread?
Unknown/not recorded
Unknown/not recorded
Strong community governance/institutions/rights for wildlife management
Present
High financial returns from use
Present
Biological characteristics of target species
Absent
Capacity building of community
Present
Effective private sector approach engagement through certification
Roe, D., Cremona, P. (2016) Informing decisions on trophy hunting: A Briefing Paper regarding issues to be taken into account when considering restriction of imports of hunting trophies.
The Torghar Conservation Project in Pakistan was initiated in the mid-1980s by local Pathan tribal leaders who were concerned that uncontrolled illegal hunting for food had greatly reduced populations
of both the Suleiman (straight-horned) Markhor (< 100 animals) and the Afghan Urial (around 200). the Torghar Conservation Project based on a simple concept: local community members would give up hunting in exchange for being hired as game guards to prevent poaching, and the project would be financed by revenues derived from a limited trophy hunt of Markhor and Urial by foreign hunters.
Threats/pressures impacting the species at the scale of this record