Shot, poisoned and beaten to death: why leopard killings are soaring in Pakistan | Endangered species
Inside Pakistan Natural History Museum, in Islamabad, two whale works on the skin of the leopard. Get rid of the remaining body and sprinkle the underside with boric acid powder. It is difficult to look away from the holes in which the eyes of the leopard should be.
“We ask the memorization groups, if they find any dead sample, which you transfer to us so that we can preserve it and make it available to young researchers,” says Mohamed Qaif Khan, Director of Animal Sciences at the museum. He says: “This particular leopard died from his wounds in the Azad Jamo and Kashmir area.”
Her death was not an isolated event. Social media is dumpful with pictures and videos of the pads that were filmed, poisoned or hit to death throughout the country. The owners warn to maintain that the wave of accidents threaten the survival of the species in Pakistan, which is They are weak Globally.
“The number of leopard killings has increased significantly in the past few years,” says Mohamed Wasim from the world. Wildlife finance. The unpublished data collected by his team in 2024 indicates that 45 of the leopards have been killed in the past five years – the same number registered over the past 12. “I think the rates are higher than the data indicates.” “Several killings have not been reported.”
While the cheetahs are sometimes killed because of their valuable dug, Wassim says that most of the registered cases are revenge works – caused by attacks on people, or often, their farm animals. Before the nineties of the last century, the struggle between the left person was rare, but the removal of fast forests (Pakistan’s forest now covers less than 5 % of its territory, compared to an international average of 31 %) that pushed leopards from human settlements. In the Ghaliyat area, in the northwestern Khyber Bakhbethuhu Province, this conflict escalated significantly in the first decade of the twentieth century, and reached its peak in the rash of human deaths. It was reported that one of the fruits, nicknamed “the ghost of the communities”, killed six women before they were Straight and kill By the police in 2005.
Women face a great danger of leopard attacks. In rural societies, they are usually responsible for collecting water and firewood, a task that can require walking several kilometers across the forest areas and stopping at water sources. To the cheetah, these movements may resemble prey movements. save The groups worked with local women and school children on how to reduce risks – for example, by traveling in groups. These efforts have greatly reduced the number of attacks on humans.
However, they did not completely stop them. Ali, a constructive worker from a precious area, was walking home from work three years ago when one of the tiger pounced on him, and he put him unconscious and tears part of the rough muscle. He survived, but the healing was long. He has not been able to work since then.
Cheetah attacks on livestock are still widespread throughout Pakistan. For farmers on a small scale, the financial loss can be devastating. “I will be happy if there is no effort,” says Muhammad Yakb, who recently lost many goats. “They harm us.”
“Whenever the cattle leopard attacks, people become aggressive,” said Sajid Hussein, a world of maintaining the preservation of a community known locally as Sherwalla. Over the past twenty years, it has been trying to address the conflict between the left person in and around the National Park of the Nigerian, in Khyber Bakhtongua. “In my opinion, people kill leopards because there is no appropriate government compensation system.”
Some provincial governments, including Khyber Bakhtonguwa, offer compensation to the victims of wildlife attacks. In practice, however, the process is the bureaucracy intensively. The affected person must submit a request at the nearest wildlife office – which may be hours away – and provides evidence of the attack. If their livestock are grazing in a protected forest area, they will be automatically excluded, although some societies live inside protected areas and have no alternative grazing lands. Even when compensation is given, the payments are small and can take months or even years of treatment. Many people who are affected by government compensation completely give up, instead depend on their families and neighbors for support.
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Women face a great danger to attack when collecting firewood and water. Awareness sessions (right) are kept to advise them regarding safety measures. The main image: Samia, who is fifteen years old, suffered from serious injuries from the Fahd attack at the age of five
Wassim explains that the main problem is that the money comes from the state’s budget for natural disasters, which already extends to thin due to Pakistan’s sensitivity to harsh weather events. As a result, the struggle of human life and life has become a lesser priority. He says: “Besides the appropriate compensation system for the victims of the struggle of human life and life, we need to provide our departments with trained work areas to deal with these issues.” If tiger killings are not curbed, Waseem warns of a decrease in population. The number of wild leopards in Pakistan is unknown, however Estimates indicate that only a few hundred remains.
Although the population of Pakistan is scattered, it extends to a large part of the country. Even Islamabad, the capital, is a home to a young population of about 10 Lubard land, which roams the Margala Hills National Park on the outskirts of the city. The proximity to urban areas makes these leopards at risk in particular. Despite the efforts of local environmental groups, a The leopard -filled leopard is found Dead in the garden less than two years ago.
Islamabad is also home to the Margala Center to save wildlife, which rehabilitates infected wildlife from all over the country. In one of the packages, two new arrivals explore their surroundings: the orphan cubs when their mother was shot. They reside without fear the wire network from the box, to entertainment and anxiety – from Rangers. The leopards are skilled climbers.
“We will have to strengthen the box before it becomes larger,” says SANA Raja, who runs the center.
“It will be great to be able to release them in the wild,” says Raja. “But they separated from their mother very small, I don’t think that will be possible. We will take care of them with the best we can.”
