Sir: I have taught my students about the Houbara Bustard, a migratory bird that arrives every year in Pakistan in the winter from Siberia, Mongolia and the Central Asian Republics. By the 1960s, this poor migratory bird had been hunted in the Middle East to near extinction. In 1975, it was declared to be an endangered species in Pakistan as it is widely hunted by Arab falconers who believe its meat has aphrodisiac properties. I explained to my students why it is important to protect endangered plants and other creatures and how one of the most important ways to help the threatened flora and fauna to survive is to protect their habitat so that they can live without too much interference from humans. The children understood this completely but it is a shame that the bureaucrats who issue licences to foreigners from the Middle East to come to our country and kill these guest birds are oblivious to some of life’s greater pleasures: listening to bird songs or watching the Houbara’s unique bridal dance, during which it runs hundreds of metres while drumming its legs, tilting its head backwards, inflating the plumes on its chest and making itself appear like a ball of black and white feathers. While they conspire to oblige visiting dignitaries, our authorities become party to a systematic massacre that will soon obliterate the Houbara altogether. Shame upon us for this treatment of our guests! RUMANA HUSAIN Karachi