Gilgit (Pakistan), Jan 9 (IANS): The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) has complimented the administration of Gilgit-Baltistan for expeditiously arresting and sentencing markhor poachers in Astore district in Pakistan.

The markhor, a species of rare wild mountain goat, is classified as near threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species.

On December 28, 2017, the Gilgit-Baltistan Parks and Wildlife Department and Community Wildlife Rangers of Bunji arrested three suspects for poaching markhors.

The poachers were caught in the Bunji Conservancy of Astore district during a joint winter wildlife survey conducted by the Parks and Wildlife Department, Bunji Conservation Committee and the WCS-Pakistan Programme.

The suspects were detained with the meat, horns and skin of two flare-horned markhor (one male and one female), along with a gun.

They were sentenced to two years in prison and fined $136,000, roughly the cost of legally hunting two trophy-sized markhor in the international market.