From the Hunting Report

Urgent Call For All Markhor Hunters

(posted June 04, 2009)

US hunters who have hunted markhor or want to hunt this species should immediately contact John J. Jackson, III, at Conservation Force. If you have read your June issue of Conservation Force Bulletin, delivered with your issue of The Hunting Report, you already know that Jackson has filed suit against the US Department of the Interior and US Fish & Wildlife Service (USF&WS) to force the downlisting and/or import of Suleiman markhor, which has been put off for political and not scientific reasons for some years. Now Conservation Force needs to hear from markhor hunters from the US in order to win this suit.

The US government has filed a motion to dismiss the markhor suit filed by Conservation Force, arguing that it is an attempt to get the court to make "programmatic" changes in political policy towards treatment of trophy imports, and that it is not based upon specific, individual claims. Furthermore, they claim that previous applicants have abandoned efforts at importation and downlisting, basically making the suit irrelevant.

Due to the government's stance, Conservation Force needs to add more individuals to the suit. Anyone who has actually taken a markhor should contact Jackson to join the suit and get their import permit issued. Likewise, hunters who have wanted to hunt this species but been dissuaded (because the USF&WS represented that trophy import permits would not be granted) should also contact Jackson and add the weight of their complaints to the suit.

Contact Jackson immediately on his cell at 504-453-2754.

Seloushunter