A trophy hunter from the United States is getting heat from his recent hunting trip to the Himalayan region of Pakistan called Gilgit-Baltistan, located in the northern part of the country. Texan, Bryan Kinsel Harlan paid $110,000 in order to hunt and kill a rare mountain goat.
In the photo taken, he proudly kneels beside the hunted animal. Harlan also shared with the Pakistani press: “It was an easy and close shot. I am pleased to take this trophy.”
So far, Harlan has been the third American that traveled all the way to Pakistan to kill the rare marcher goat. This wild animal is part of the endangered species list. Back in 2011, there were about 2,500 marcher goats left in the region. Within the past years, their population has dwindled massively because of the following reasons: Deforestation, poaching, military activities and unregulated trophy hunting.
The image of Harlan and his kill received an outrage on social media. Mostly because people are angry about the lack of laws and right for this animal, as well as more hunting regulations. Despite all the backlash Harlan received on social media, he is still happy that he went on this adventure.
In the video footage taken, Harlan is seen climbing a cliff on his hunting expedition and shooting a male marcher goat who was sitting next to a younger goat. He also expressed his gratitude to the country and its people for being “welcomed with open arms.” He said that Pakistan is a very safe country and tourist destination and recommend it to other American travellers.
“This is a perfect example of hunters and villagers coming together for a common goal of game conservation.”
Pakistan has an allocation of five sanctuaries around India for these rare mountain goats to live and breed freely in order to stop their extinction. The country’s authorities have also set laws to allow hunters, such as Harlan to hunt for goats in their region, with a hefty price. This large sum of money that is received as the hunting payment is used to protect all the endangered animals from potential and future extinction.
The Independent has reported that around 80% of profits that are received from trophy hunters are given to “isolated residents” who live in the habitat of these animals, while the remaining 20% is used for government wildlife agencies.
