An American citizen and hunter Ronald Joviten has made history by paying the highest bid ever to hunt the first markhor of the season, securing a hunting permit by paying a record $271,000.

The Divisional Forest Officer Wildlife Chitral, Farooq Nabi, informed the media that Joviten won the bidding for the markhor hunting permit in October. On December 8, he hunted the national animal of Pakistan under the supervision of wildlife officials in the Tooshi Shasha Conservancy, with the markhor being 11 years old and having horns measuring 49.5 inches.

This year, the Wildlife Department issued four permits for markhor hunting, with both permits sold at the remarkable price of $271,000 each.

Wildlife officials reported that 80% of the revenue generated from the trophy hunting program is distributed among local communities, with additional funds allocated for community development and wildlife conservation efforts.

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Trophy hunting in Pakistan was introduced in 1999 after a 1997 conference in Zimbabwe, which granted Pakistan the ability to issue hunting trophies to combat illegal markhor hunting. Initially allowed to issue six markhor trophies annually, the quota has since increased to twelve.

Last year, an American hunted a Kashmir Markhor, for which he obtained a permit from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Wildlife Department, for one hundred and five thousand US dollars. The size of the trophy hunting horns is 45 inches.