Hunting is an important part of our culture. It is difficult to imagine Mongols without hunting. So for us hunting is normal.
Mongolia has been issuing hunting permits since 1960s for argali, bighorn sheep and for yangir, ibex, when my country was still socialist. Brave western souls would come to Mongolia for the ultimate big game, a ram.
Annually, the Government issues around 80 hunting permits per year. The hunting season is very short and starts from July 1st and ends on October 1st. You can hunt only in certain locations. If I am not mistaken, there is also a limit to how many times you can shoot. But in general, after the first miss you need days to find another one.
Around 20 local companies that specialise in big game hunting receive the permission. Each permit costs around 20,000 dollars upfront. If the company cannot find a hunter, the permit expires. You would not be reimbursed. The companies usually receive the permit at the beginning of the year and would usually go to specialised hunting expos worldwide to find clients.
Big game hunting is not something that you can decide on a spur of moment. You need to plan months in advance. My friend, who organises big game hunting tours, would usually call his local hunters on the status of the sheep all the time. To hunt you need to find them first. Only male sheep, rams, are allowed to be hunted. If they cannot find the right ram of appropriate size, the hunting is over.
So I doubt that Trump Jr. would go hiking in the western mountains of Mongolia and suddenly decide to do hunting. Usually hunters bring in their own riffles. Bringing rifles to Mongolia by itself is a bureaucratic nightmare. Some hunters would even bring their dogs for hunting. So I doubt a specialised tour company would organise hunting without permission. I doubt a hunter would pay 20,000 dollars to a company without permission. It is not worth the penalty. And when all the law enforcement agencies are traveling with you it is doubly not worth it.
By Anand Nyamdavaa
0 comments:
Post a Comment