Sharp rise in illegal hunting of birds worries Ghazni residents

GHAZNI CITY (Pajhwok): Uncontrolled hunting of wild and rare birds has substantially increased in southern Ghazni province, threatening several key species and pushing some toward complete extinction, residents say.

The residents, who consider birds as the beauty of the country, ask the government to prevent illegal hunting of birds and urge hunters to shun the practice that endangers the province’s rich biodiversity.

Asif Ahmad, a resident of Ghazni city, told Pajhwok Afghan News that hunting of birds had sharply increased in different areas of the province.

“I visited the Sultan Band area a few days. Armed Taliban were shooting at birds with their Kalashnikovs and other weapons, which was very painful.” He said birds were a great beauty of the country and should not be hunted mercilessly.

Nabiullah, a resident of Sarda village of Andar district, said birds hunting had increased in Sarda dam as well as in other areas of the province.

He said due to prolonged wars and illegal hunting, rare species of birds and wild animals were disappearing. “Young people hunt birds in different areas of Ghazni, but no one stops them.”

He urged the government and the people to stop hunting birds in order not to deprive the country of beautiful and colorful birds and should instead work to increase their population.

Azar Khan, a 30-year-old man from Sharana, the capital of southeastern Paktika province, was using a hunting weapon to hit the birds. He refused to talk to Pajhwok.

Pajhwok shared the problem of increasing poaching with officials of the Environmental Protection Agency, but they did not give an answer.

However, Hamidullah Nisar, acting director of Information and Culture Department in Ghazni, told Pajhwok Afghan News that the issue of illegal hunting of birds was not confined to Ghazni, but was ongoing in many regions of Afghanistan.

He said the provincial administration recently sent letters to a number of departments and districts regarding the ban on hunting birds and wild animals.

Birds are hunted with different weapons in Ghazni’s Sarda Dam, Sultan Dam, Ab Astada, Zan Khan Dam, Navar mountains and many other areas.

Observers say Ghazni was once home to migratory birds, but they changed their routes and habitats due to past wars and illegal hunting.

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