A common leopard (Panthera
pardus) was killed by a group of hunters in the outskirts of a little town
Dadyal, which is located near the Mangla Dam, confirms Javaid Ayub Director
Wildlife and Fisheries Department of Pakistan controlled Kashmir.
The animal was shot by the gun and then beaten to death, eye witnesses say. A
video of the incident has been uploaded on ‘YouTube’ site by the community
members. The video clip shows a group of people thrashing the dead body of the
victim with a rod.
Now it is dead,’ one of perpetrators states in the video, speaking in local
Mirpuri language. Officials are struggling to punish the culprits who have been
accused of having support of local influential politicians.
So far at least four persons have been accused unprovoked murder of an animal
and police and Wildlife officials are pursuing legal action against the people
involved in the incident.
According to Pakistan's laws, people responsible of animal cruelty face six
month imprisonment and have to pay fine equal to the commercial price of the
animal which they have killed. Illegal hunting is common in Pakistan and its
administrated region of Kashmir where public lacks awareness about the animal
rights and wildlife protection and judicial system is fragile.
Jammu and Kashmir, a mountainous state divided between India and Pakistan, has
an abundance of forests which are habitats of many species of endangered flora
and fauna.
In recent years degradation of natural habitat has contributed to endangering
regional environmental life. It has also forced wildlife to leave the natural
territories and enter human populations in search of food.
There are increasing public complaints about the intrusion of wild cats into
farmers’ private lands and depredation of domestic livestock. Locals accuse the
Common Leopards and other feral animals of attacking and killing their cows,
goats, sheep, pets and other livestock. On the other hand, ecological experts
describe the increased presence of wild cats near to the human populations as a
visible sign of the increased loss of natural prey for the wildlife as a result
of environmental damage caused by humans.
“(The) Common leopard is a very shy animal and does not attack without solid
reasons (danger to its life or living place, cubs etc),” said Khurshid Ahmed, an
environmentalist from Peshawar University.
The region where people killed the Common Leopard is located in the vicinity of
a National Park famous for its richness in ecology and biodiversity.
The Peer Lasora National Park is located near the border dividing the disputed
state of Jammu and Kashmir. It has several threatened and endangered species of
mammals and birds, including the Common Leopard (Panthera Pardus), Cheer
Pheasant (Catreus Wallichi), rhesus monkey (Mecaca Mulata) and barking deer
(Axis Porcianus).
A WWF Pakistan study estimates that at least 70 per cent of the original
habitats in this region have been destroyed due to habitat degradation, mining,
stone crushing, deforestation, forest fire, prohibited hunting of the natural
prey and other threats. The leopards face several threats to their survival and
have attained attention of conservationists internationally.
The Common Leopard has been included as a “Near Threatened” category in IUCN red
data list.
Globally, The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species is widely recognized for
evaluating the conservation status of plant and animal species. Pakistan is one
of the few countries in the world that harbours the cat family of rare animals.
In the last few decades Pakistan has speeded up its conservation attempts of the
Snow Leopard, but the Common leopard has failed to obtain the required interest
of the government and the public. As a result, the Common Leopard has become
extremely uncommon in Pakistan. The lack of public awareness about the wildlife
and the higher occurrence rate of poverty in rural areas are blamed for this
neglect.
For the protection of Snow Leopard massive awareness programmes, including
livestock insurance schemes have been introduced in some areas of Pakistan,
e.g.Ayubia National Park. Communities have responded positively to such
Eco-Friendly projects.
Environmentalists believe that starting of similar sustainable efforts can raise
awareness among the public in other regions, as well as be helpful for the
survival of various natural species that are facing the dangers of extinction.
“There is a dire need to impart awareness about the Common Leopard for the
existence of our food chain as with its extinction, our biodiversity is going to
face greater negative imbalance causing faster degradation to natural
environment. This directly impacts the lives of the local community in special
and the area and region in general”, maintains Mr. Khurshid, who has extensively
worked on ecological resources of Northern Pakistan, including Jammu and
Kashmir.
(The write is associated with Press For Peace (PFP), a campaign group that works
for raising environmental awareness and promotion of sustainable development in
Azad Jammu and Kashmir.)