A Texas businessman travelled to Pakistan and forked over $110,000 just for the right to kill a rare Himalayan goat.
Bryan Harlan paid the steep price to hunt a markhor, a spiral-horned goat.
“It is an honour and privilege to be back in Pakistan,” said Harlan, according to a Pakistani TV station. “This is the third time I am in Pakistan. I have hunted almost all animals here. I saved the markhors for the last.”
The mortgage banking executive from the Dallas area paid the steep price to kill the creature as part of a conservation program used to lessen poaching of the formerly endangered animals, reported DallasNews.
Hunting wild Astor markhors are forbidden in the mountainous Asian nation but the government does allow trophy hunting for an exorbitant fee. The government granted just the one permit to kill one markhor.
About 80% of that expense is funnelled back into the local community while the rest is earmarked for Pakistani wildlife agencies, claimed authorities.
A YouTube video shows Harlan kneeling behind his trophy amid a backdrop of the majestic Himalayan range after killing it. The footage also shows the markhor leaping into the air after being shot.
Many people posting comments about the video condemned the trophy killing.
“Now try to hunt something that has the ability to hunt you. No weapons. No tech” wrote YouTube user Michael Smith. “You and your worthless, soft as lotion hands.”
It is believed there were about 2,500 markhors remaining in the wild, but conservation efforts led to a slight increase in population by 2015, reported the Washington Post.
