The houbara bustard: a thematic analysis of a bird's threatened extinction and a government's accountability failure

Purpose: This paper provides a thematic analysis of an IUCN Red-Listed bird, the houbara bustard, which Pakistan uses as a fungible resource to appease its wealthy Arab benefactors.

Design/methodology/approach: Thematic analysis of relevant media reports and government ministry and NGO websites comprise the study’s data. Media reports were located using Dow Jones’ Factiva database.

Findings: Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issues wealthy Arabs special permits for hunting the houbara bustard as a “soft” foreign diplomacy strategy aimed at propping up the country’s fragile economy. Although illegal under international and Pakistan’s own wildlife laws, resource dependence theory helps explain how various country-specific issues (e.g. dysfunctional political and judicial systems) enable Pakistan’s unlawful exchange of hunting permits for Arab oil and short-term financing. Surrogate accountability and agencement are examined as two means for arresting the bird’s trajectory toward extinction.

Research limitations/implications: Media reports comprise the primary data. Pakistani government officials were approached for interviews, but failed to reply. Although unfortunate, the pervasive corruption and mistrust that characterise Pakistan’s culture would have likely tainted the responses. For this reason, media reports were always the primary data sought.

Originality/value: The present study extends prior literature by exploring how country context can subvert the transferability of social and political approaches used in developed countries to address environmental accounting issues and challenges. As this study shows, a developing country’s economic vulnerability, combined with its dysfunctional political systems, impotent judiciary and feckless regulatory mechanisms, can undermine legislation meant to protect the country’s natural environment, in general, and a threatened bird’s existence, in particular.