Saving leopards

Wildlife Dept asks people to avoid leopards’ domain near Margallah National Park

The natural habitat of leopards at Margallah National Park, Islamabad is under threat due to commercial activities and encroachment in the area.

A leopard was recently killed at Taxila on the road near Nicholson’s monument. First, it was hit by a bus and again by a car resulting in the death of the leopard which was ascending the mountains of Margallah.

The video of the dead leopard was all over social media and later when the wildlife department reached the spot, there had been no body of the leopard. It could not find any injured or dead leopard on the spot which was shown in the viral video.

According to the wildlife department, it is more likely that the residents of the nearby area took away its body, most probably for its expensive skin that is either kept as a souvenir or stuffed and preserved by taxidermy.

Currently, there are five to seven leopards at the Margallah National Park, stated Umar Bilal who is the spokesman of the Wildlife Department in Islamabad.

Out of these leopards, he said, it is estimated that two are couples and one is a cub.

Generally, leopards are very shy of human presence and don’t want to interfere in their lives. However, they descend from the upper mountains due to snow.

This is pertinent to mention here that the total area of the national park is 17,386 hectares. Most of the area is occupied by leopards from east to west including trails.

Leopards got enough animals as their food in the dense jungle including deer, monkeys and green pheasants. In the peak days of the coronavirus, the families of barking deer made their way to the national park. Since then, these families have been growing and they are often seen in the park in many places.

These deer are also a source of food as nature has made arrangements for the sustenance of leopards in their habitat.

On the other hand, he agreed with the viewpoint that expanding human settlement, encroachment and disturbance are the main concerns for the survival of leopards in the park.

According to Bilal, the Wildlife Department has been doing various things to raise awareness in the local community to avoid disturbing the natural habitat of the leopards.

He said the department has already closed potentially risky areas for the general public. The trained wildlife staff conducts round-the-clock patrolling against hunters and poachers. The local community was stopped from taking their cattle freely into the grazing area.

He said the skin of a leopard or any dead animal is handed over to Islamabad Museum by the department.

While elaborating on the treatment facilities for the big cat, he said a rescue centre is operational in the department. Moreover, he said, the services of veterinary doctors are also available in the department to treat any animal.

Sources have told this scribe that some people have leopards in their homes who reared this species in a private capacity. However, the wildlife department could not testify to this connection.

There have been cases in the Hazara Division of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa where the local community killed leopards because they had attacked their cattle.

While commenting on this issue, the spokesman said that human error is involved in this process. He said as the leopards live in dense jungle areas, the people take their animals to this part of the jungle so that their animals have an abundance of grazing. “Since the leopard does not like interference in its natural habitat, it kills these animals,” he stated. He said people should avoid interfering in the habitat of leopards to stay unharmed.