Royal hunting party from Saudi Arabia in search of the Great Indian Bustard

Ban on hunting the Bustard clearly spelt on the road to JaisalmerA quiet spot on the edge of the Thar Desert in Rajasthan is hardly a place for indulging in diplomatic tangles. But it came to that early this month when angry public opinion aroused by the conservationists forced the Indian Foreign Office to serve an injunction on the royal hunting party from Saudi Arabia in search of the Great Indian Bustard*, a protected species.The Saudi royal family consisting of Prince Badr, cousin of King Khalid, his sons Saoud and Mohammad and his cousin and brother-in-law Mansoor, crossed into India at Sarkari Tara from Pakistan. Within a week of their arrival, the Rajasthan High Court issued a stay order on January 2 for 14 days, stopping the killing of the bustards. Indian Minister of State for External Affairs, Samarendra Kundu, visited the Arabs 4 km from Ramgarh. The Prince and one of his sons flew out in a huff in an Indian Air Force jet.The matter was regarded as closed. And the wild life conservationists thought that their lost cause got a shot in the arm.But when India Today correspondent Sreekant Khandekar and photographer Pramod Pushkarna visited the hunting party on January 6, the Arabs were still hunting. And the District Magistrate and Collector, N. C. Jain, said that he had not received the court order.Behind this favourite sport of the Arabs a more sinister game was being played. Although, at present, Saudi Arabia accounts for only 17 per cent of India's crude oil imports, the disruption of Iranian oil supply (50 per cent of the total oil imports) has given Saudi oil a new importance. This point was not lost on either the Saudis or the Indian Government. The Saudis were quick to use their oil clout and the Indian Government did its best to appease them. If it were not for the public outcry, the Government would probably have continued to turn a blind eye to the hunting exploits of the Arabs as it has done in the past.Saudis in the Rajasthan desert with a van in the background containing a powerful transmitter (inset)Besides the oil-or-bustard controversy, there was also concern among defence circles that the Prince had chosen an area to hunt which is close to the sensitive Pokhran atomic explosion site. The presence of powerful transmitters and long range binoculars did not help matters either.Presently the situation is unclear, and while the hunting continues, the Government is making appropriate noises of putting an end to it.Unfazed by the adverse publicity, the princes are now expected to ask for permission to land their private Boeing 727 jets in the desert to indulge in their medieval sport. Khandekar reports:Hunters relaxing at night - dancing girls missingAs we drove from Jaisalmer, heading for the Arab camp 69 km away, the road was deserted. After passing sleepy Ramgarh (population 1,600), we saw a solitary light flickering in the desert darkness. As we drew close, the cluster of tents gave the appearance of an Arabian settlement. The bright lights and the numerous vehicles hinted of modern comforts.We walked a short distance from the road to the camp. The air was filled with the hum of the generator. A Border Security Force man appeared from nowhere and asked us to state the purpose of our visit. Tents, ten in all, were pitched in no definite pattern. A tent flap opened to reveal a luxurious interior with the sand floor covered with rich Persian carpets. Vehicles-open jeeps for hunting, water and fuel tankers and trucks-were spread all around camp. A large brown station wagon, its rear door open, contained the transmitter which was used by the Saudis to keep in touch with their native land. Nearby, a dismantled transmitting tower lay neglected.Luxurious tents with Persian carpetsStrolling among the tents we came across an unusual view. Seated outside a huge tent, in an orderly circle, around a fire, were over two dozen Arabs. Flanking them, perched on short metallic rods, were several majestic and powerful falcons. Greyish-brown in colour, their eyes were hooded. One of the Arabs, leather glove on his right hand, bore a falcon. The scene was so typically Arabic, that we almost expected the appearance of the belly dancers. The Arab leader, a dignified old man smiled and motioned to us to sit next to him. Strong and sweet black tea was served in tiny mugs.The falcons, we were told, were trained by using dummy tilods. The trainer would emit the cry of the bird and the falcon released from a distance. Tracing the tilod's cry the falcon would swoop down on the dummy and hold it down with the claws, till the trainer released it.The Great Indian BustardN. C. Jain, the district collector, believed that there were no more than six to eight pairs of the great Indian bustard in the area. Said Jain: "The falcon is trained to hunt down the tilod. It is unlikely that it will attack a great Indian bustard. In any case, it is too large a bird for the falcon to hold down."But a police official in nearby Ramgarh was not impressed. He was convinced that the Arabs were hunting the black buck and the chinkara, species of deer, protected in the area. "On January 4 and 5 at least eight deer were shot. The hunters carry shotguns and use Polish FAM cartridges, which, as the deer emblem on them indicates, are used for hunting the animal."A worried security official in the Rajasthan Government said: "One of the visitors had on an earlier visit presented Rs 6 lakh in cash to the then district collector. The sum was duly deposited with the state treasury. But, such generosity displayed towards the accompanying BSF personnel, can prove to be unsafe."*The Great Indian Bustard (Gotlawan), a large brown and white bird, stands almost a metre tall and weighs about 18 kg. It normally moves in pairs or groups of five or six. Though capable of flying, it prefers to hide in the desert shurbs. If compelled to fly, it can attain a height of 250-300 feet, but is slow in take-off. Its rarity-there are believed to be no more than six to eight pairs in Rajasthan- is explained by its ability to lay only one egg at a time. Omnivorous, its diet include berries. tender shoots, beetles, locust and even snakes.The Lesser Indian bustard (tilod) is a migratory bird that is found in much larger numbers. It resembles the Great Indian bustard but is much smaller, weighing only about 2kg.Published By: AtMigration Published On: Dec 26, 2014 14:38 IST--- ENDS ---

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Royal hunting party from Saudi Arabia in search of the Great Indian Bustard

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