Several incidents of leopards hit by motorists leaving the wildcat either dead or injured are rampantly reported in the northern areas, particularly Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), which is considered a tourism-rich area. The rising leopard-vehicle collisions along the highways of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in different districts of the province indicated a thriving population of the endangered common Asian Leopard that seeks a national level of community awareness to respect the habitats and ecosystems of wildlife while venturing into the scenic hilly areas of the country.
Talking to APP, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa wildlife department senior official confided that an Asian leopard was found injured on Kaghan Highway hit by a fast-moving car leaving it traumatized and unable to walk on her hind limbs. He said the increase in the number of leopards was not a risk rather it indicated a healthy ecosystem, as the wildcat controls the population of wild boars. He added that wild boars are detrimental, if in abundance, to crops, humans, and ecology.
The leopard was a female cat that was timely recovered from Kaghan Highway and shifted to Dhodial Pheasantry, Mansehra for treatment, he added.
The release of the leopardess back into the wild was the decision of the divisional forest officer (DFO) Dhodial, who had ensured the rehab of the wildcat as if it had not been fully recuperated it would become unable to hunt. Consequently, it would attack the weakest prey on her food chain which was humans. he shared his insight. The Wildlife official informed that an injured hyena was recovered earlier from Koh-e-Suleiman area and it was rehabilitated and recovered under captivity and then released into the wild.
He added that the KP’s Wildlife Department had a policy to keep wildlife in its natural habitats. Recently, the KP wildlife act was extended to the newly merged tribal districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa that were also potential habitats of leopards, hyenas, and wolves among other wildlife species. There has been frequent leopard-human conflicts in the Khyber districts which was having a thriving leopard population and its hunting has been common in that region. “The wildlife department recorded numerous incidents where people hunt down leopards as it attacked and ate their livestock animals,” he added. To a question, he informed the department had initiated a compensation mechanism by taking the deputy commissioner’s office on board to provide money in lieu off the animals killed by the leopard. However, it was incumbent on the wildlife department to verify that the livestock animal was predated by a leopard and also by the affected party as well,
He further informed that hyenas and wolves were found in large number in South Waziristan, whereas leopards were common in Orakzai, South Waziristan, Karak, Kohat and Hazara region. The official underlined that community awareness and education had become imperative to ensure wildlife protection and promotion as these areas were tourism magnets and people wanted to visit these places. whereas there was need to develop some standard operating procedures to ensure safety at all ends. “The wildlife department is already carrying out awareness lectures at schools and colleges for students on wildlife protection and conservation.
