http://lobelog.com/pakistan-and-the-gulf-feathered-diplomacy/#more-36952

Pakistan and the Gulf: Feathered Diplomacy

by Alia P. Ahmed
Every winter the ordeal resumes. Arab royals and their entourages arrive in the deserts of Pakistan, and set themselves upon a small and unassuming migratory bird. Releasing their falcons into the sky, the sheikhs tear through the provinces of Balochistan, Sindh, and Punjab, following the hunt from air-conditioned SUVs. Their prey, the houbara bustard, is shy and reclusive; its beige and white speckled feathers help it blend into arid surroundings. But camouflage alone cannot save it – excessive hunting has decimated its numbers and placed it on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s list of threatened species. And its plight doesn’t end there. The birds are also illegally exported to the Gulf for the purpose of training falcons.
Though hunting the houbara is officially banned in Pakistan, the federal government regularly issues special hunting permits to Arab dignitaries, a practice it has rather blithely admitted to being “a cornerstone of foreign policy.” Such permits usually allow for the deaths of 100 birds within a maximum hunting period of 10 days. In January 2014, however, Saudi prince Fahd bin Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud embarked on a three-week rampage that slaughtered 2,100 birds in Balochistan.
By March, Saudi Arabia had donated $1.5 billion to Pakistan, which “contributed to a sharp recovery of the Pakistani rupee…it’s strongest rally in 30 years,” according to the country’s oldest English-language daily. The government referred to the grant only as a “gift for the people of Pakistan,” stirring speculation among analysts and the media. In the face of such kind gifts, what were a few feathers? http://lobelog.com/pakistan-and-the-gulf-feathered-diplomacy/#more-36952