Mumtaz Hussain
UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad has said Markhor is not merely a conservation subject but is the national animal of his country.
He said that sometimes referred to as the “mountain monarch”, the Markhor is a symbol of resilience and majesty, native to the high mountain terrain of Chitral, Kohistan, Kalam, Gilgit-Baltistan, Balochistan, and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
He made these remarks while speaking at a side event marking the International Day of the Markhor 2026 commemorated at the United Nations under the theme “Markhor and Mountain Biodiversity: Strengthening Global Efforts for Ecosystem Conservation and Sustainable Development.”
The event, hosted by the Permanent Missions of Pakistan and Tajikistan with collaboration of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), brought together diplomats, the UN officials, conservation experts and environmental partners to spotlight the Markhor as an iconic species of Central and South Asia and a flagship for the protection of fragile mountain ecosystems.
In his remarks, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad said that he was proud to inform that a species that once teetered on the brink of extinction has grown steadily over the past decade — a testament to proactive conservation, community ownership, and sustained political will.
“Our conservation strategy, including a CITES-recognized programme, has been central to this turnaround,” he added.
Pointing to the challenges, he said that climate change is fundamentally altering the ecosystems that the Markhor depends upon. He said that shifting treelines and prolonged rainfall deficits are exposing oak forests — a primary food source for the Markhor — to new disease pressures and vegetation loss.
He described warming temperatures as driving apex predators like the snow leopard to ever higher altitudes in parts of Pakistan, thus compounding the problem. He said that the situation has disrupted the predator hierarchy, with lynx and other predators now roaming freely and hunting Markhor kids far more intensively.
“While Pakistan has made significant strides against poaching, illegal hunting remains a persistent threat across the species’ range states. These are not isolated pressures — they are interconnected, and they are accelerating,” he warned.
He said that the Markhor has defied extinction once but sustaining that recovery demands more than national will, adding that it demands scaled up international cooperation to address new and emerging challenges.
He conveyed Pakistan’s readiness to work with all partners to ensure that the “mountain monarch” continues to reign.
Delivering the keynote address, Bahodur Sheralizoda, Chairman of the Committee for Environmental Protection under the Government of Tajikistan, highlighted Tajikistan’s successful recovery of the markhor population, which had fallen to nearly 300 in the 1990s and has since increased to more than 7,000 through scientific monitoring, community-based protection, political will and responsible wildlife management?
Jamil Ahmad, Director of the United Nations Environment Programme placed markhor conservation within the broader environmental crisis facing mountain regions. He warned that highlands are warming faster than lowlands, with glacier melt, snow cover decline, permafrost thaw and water stress placing ecosystems, livelihoods and energy investments at risk.
Dr. Sofie Sandström Jaffe, Permanent Observer of International Union for Conservation of Nature, said the International Day of the Markhor recognizes both an iconic species and the mountain ecosystems on which nearly half of the world’s biodiversity hotspots depend.
She described the markhor as a barometer of ecosystem health and stressed that its recovery demonstrates what is possible when communities are empowered, science guides management and cooperation extends across borders.
The panel discussion examined the health, ecological and legal dimensions of Markhor conservation. Dr. Chris Walzer of the Wildlife Conservation Society warned that disease transmission between livestock and wildlife is among the most serious threats to mountain ungulates, particularly as climate change increases pressure on high-altitude habitats.
Dr. Zalmai Moheb, wildlife biologist and member of the IUCN Caprinae Specialist Group, described the Markhor as a model for other mountain ungulates, while cautioning that populations remain fragmented in parts of the species’ range and that reliable data is still lacking in countries affected by insecurity.
Professor Paolo Galizzi of Fordham University School of Law emphasized the importance of international legal frameworks, including CITES and the Convention on Migratory Species, and proposed that a regional agreement on markhor conservation could help address shared threats such as disease, climate change and habitat fragmentation.
Speakers emphasized that the markhor’s recovery in parts of Central and South Asia demonstrates the power of political will, community ownership, scientific monitoring and international cooperation. At the same time, they warned that continued progress cannot be taken for granted.
The event concluded with a call to transform awareness into action and to use the International Day of the Markhor as a platform for biodiversity protection, ecosystem restoration and sustainable development for mountain communities and future generations.
