CHAGAI, Pakistan, April 22 (UPI) -- Prince Fahd bin Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud killed almost 2,000 nearly extinct houbara bustards while on a 21-day hunting trip in Pakistan.

Environmental activists are protesting the mass slaughter, but the prince claims the government gave him a permit to hunt in the area. Bustards are protected under the Convention on International Trade and Endangered Species, and the Pakistani government says the permit given was for small-scale hunting.


The reason the prince killed approximately 1,977 birds is because Arab royals have long considered the meat of houbara bustards to be an aphrodisiac.