Cases / Trophy hunting revenue · Uzbekistan · 2024–2025
Paid markhor hunt in Surkhandarya, Uzbekistan
Nature's voice · report
Two markhors and one wolf were killed in my Surkhandarya mountains in 2024, according to a video reported by Kun.uz.
Did nature suffer? Yes. Harm is on record.
Recorded
The Ministry of Ecology said that hunting in Surkhandarya in 2024 was carried out under an official permit and that a fee of USD 100,000 was collected, with the money going to nature conservation. A video reported by Kun.uz showed a Russian hunter killing two markhors and a wolf; Kun.uz gave the legal rate for foreign hunters as $25,000 per markhor.
USD 100,000Fee collected for the 2024 markhor permit
Ministry of Ecology statement, 31 July 2025. Kun.uz reported the legal rate for foreign hunters as $25,000 per markhor.
Ministry of Ecology statement, 31 July 2025. Kun.uz reported the legal rate for foreign hunters as $25,000 per markhor.
Status As of 31 July 2025: the Ministry of Ecology states the 2024 hunt was carried out under permit with a USD 100,000 fee; no proceeding is on record.
What?
The Ministry of Ecology says hunting in Surkhandarya in 2024 was carried out under an official permit and that a fee of USD 100,000 was collected; the markhor is in Uzbekistan's Red Book and CITES Appendix I. Government of Uzbekistan (Ecology)
Where?
Mountains of Surkhandarya region; the exact location is not stated. Kun.uz
When?
Hunt in 2024; video reported 30 July 2025; ministry statement 31 July 2025. Government of Uzbekistan (Ecology)
Who?
Gained
- The state — USD 100,000 fee collected; the ministry says it goes to nature conservation, including anti-poaching Government of Uzbekistan (Ecology)
Lost
- Permit holder (not named in the ministry statement) — Fee of USD 100,000 collected for the 2024 hunting permit Government of Uzbekistan (Ecology)
Harmed
- Markhor and a wolf in Surkhandarya — Two markhors and one wolf killed in a video from 2024 Kun.uz
Why?
The ministry says permits are sold under quotas set on expert conclusions and the money funds conservation, including anti-poaching. Government of Uzbekistan (Ecology)
How?
An official permit limited to the oldest males past reproductive age, with the fee paid before the hunt. Government of Uzbekistan (Ecology)
6 of 6 questions answered from the record
What happened
The record, in order.
Kun.uz reported on 30 July 2025 that a video, filmed about a year earlier and posted on a hunter's YouTube channel, showed a Russian hunter killing two markhors and one wolf in the mountains of Surkhandarya region. The video was removed three days after it was uploaded and later reposted. The markhor is in Uzbekistan's Red Book, on the IUCN Red List and in CITES Appendix I.
On 31 July 2025 the Ministry of Ecology stated that hunting in Surkhandarya in 2024 was carried out in line with national law, under an official permit and after payment of the fee, and that "a fee of USD 100,000 was collected". It said permits are limited to the oldest males past reproductive age, that quotas are set under the Law "On Hunting and Hunting Economy" on the basis of expert conclusions, and that the money goes to nature conservation, including anti-poaching work. The statement gives no breakdown of how the fee was spent, no quota number and no Uzbek population figures. For comparison the ministry cited Namibia (licensed hunting earns more than USD 3 million a year), Tajikistan (10–16 markhor and 100–115 Kyzylkum argali permits a year) and Mongolia.
Kun.uz reported that foreign individuals and legal entities must pay $25,000 per markhor, and that ministry data released in 2024 counted over 800 tagged markhors in the Surkhan State Nature Reserve. Kun.uz also recalled earlier cases: in 2021 a foreign hunter shot a brown bear in Bostanlyk district and his second permit was revoked after public backlash; in April 2023 a foreign hunter's video showed an Asian ibex (Red Book) and a wild sheep shot in Surkhandarya, and the Ministry of Natural Resources told Kun.uz the hunter "hunted prey with a hunting weapon based on the specified permit" and that "the conclusion of the Academy of Sciences was obtained".
- 2021Foreign hunter shoots a brown bear in Bostanlyk district; second permit revoked after public backlash
- 2023Video of an Asian ibex and a wild sheep shot in Surkhandarya (reported 25 Apr)
- 2024Markhor hunt under permit; USD 100,000 fee collected
- 2025Video reported (30 Jul); Ministry of Ecology statement (31 Jul)
What was said
Claims, in the words of those who made them.
“a fee of USD 100,000 was collected”
“One should not jump to the simple conclusion that he shot and killed a wild animal.”
“The main goal is to create an opportunity for the reproduction of wild and rare animals”
“the conclusion of the Academy of Sciences was obtained”
Where accounts differ
Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.
The fee for the 2024 markhor permit
Government and regulators
Ministry of Ecology
A fee of USD 100,000 was collected.
Government of Uzbekistan (Ecology)Press and investigations
Kun.uz
Foreign individuals and legal entities must pay $25,000 per markhor (legal rate as reported).
Kun.uzHow it looked
What was shown, beside what was recorded.
Shown
- Hunting in 2024 was carried out in line with national law, under an official permit and after payment of the fee; the money goes to nature conservation, including anti-poachingMinistry of Ecology, 31 July 2025 · Government of Uzbekistan (Ecology)
- A video of a Russian hunter killing two markhors and a wolf in SurkhandaryaHunter's YouTube channel, as reported by Kun.uz, 30 July 2025 · Kun.uz
Recorded
- The ministry statement gives no breakdown of how the USD 100,000 fee was spent, no quota number for markhor and no Uzbek population figures.
- Kun.uz reported the legal rate for foreign individuals and legal entities as $25,000 per markhor.
- Ministry data released in 2024 counted over 800 tagged markhors in the Surkhan State Nature Reserve, as cited by Kun.uz.
- The organiser of the hunt and the exact location are not stated in Kun.uz's article.
Who gained
Money that reached nature, beside money that stayed elsewhere.
Reached nature or the ground
Not published
Fee collected for the 2024 markhor permit (to nature conservation, per the ministry)$0.1m
USD 100,000; how it was spent is not itemised.
Gained elsewhere
Not totalled
Currency: USD · Window: 2024. All figures cover the same period. * Estimate built from cited figures.
Responses on record
- uzbekistan-ecology-ministry (2025-07-31): Hunting in Surkhandarya in 2024 was carried out in line with national law, under an official permit and after payment of the fee; the money goes to nature conservation, including anti-poaching. · Government of Uzbekistan (Ecology)
In court and with insurers
Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.
Lawsuits and rulings
No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.
Insurers
No insurer decision on record.
What nature saw
Outcomes measured on the ground, and nature's note.
Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.
Fee collected
USD 100,000
Ministry of Ecology, 2024 permit
Markhors and wolf killed in the video
2 + 1
Surkhandarya, 2024 (Kun.uz)
Tagged markhors, Surkhan reserve
over 800
Ministry data released in 2024, cited by Kun.uz
What we don't know
Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
Court
- None on record No court case on record.
Accounts
- Disputed The fee for the 2024 markhor permit
Record
- Disputed Unclear: the difference between the USD 100,000 collected and the $25,000 per markhor that Kun.uz reported as the legal rate; neither source explains it.
- Not disclosed Not disclosed: a breakdown of the use of the fee, a quota number for markhor and Uzbek population figures in the ministry statement.
- Not disclosed Not disclosed: the organiser of the hunt and the exact location.
- Not disclosed Not disclosed: a reply to Kun.uz's official inquiry; none was reported at the time of publication.
- None on record None on record: a court or prosecutor proceeding; the ministry states the hunt was carried out under permit.
Did the harm stop?
Not stated.
Who paid?
The state collected a fee of USD 100,000 for the permit, according to the ministry, which says the money goes to nature conservation, including anti-poaching.
Sources
Voices on record: — Company or project✓ Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations— Communities and civil society— Researchers
Government and regulators
- Official Statement (markhor hunting in Surkhandarya)Government of Uzbekistan (Ecology) · 2025-07-31
Press and investigations
- Russian hunter kills endangered markhors in Uzbekistan's Surkhandarya regionKun.uz · 2025-07-30
- Russian hunter hunts an animal included in Red Book in SurkhandaryaKun.uz · 2023-04-25
Connected cases
Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
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