Rare leopard shot dead in village near Muzaffarabad
By Tariq Naqash
MUZAFFARABAD, June 1: Earthquake survivors in a mountain village near here have shot dead a rare leopard saying it threatened their lives. Now questions are being raised and the wildlife authorities have decided to hold an inquiry.
The killing took place in Sarli Saccha village, some 25 kilometres northeast of here on Wednesday, according to the AJK wildlife department official Naeem Iftikhar Dar. “The leopard known as Panthera Pardus, had left its habitat and descended on the village where he was shot dead by villagers allegedly in self-defence,” he told Dawn.
Sarli Saccha is located within a wildlife sanctuary - Machiara National Park - spread over an area of 33,437 acres, close to the epicentre of last year’s catastrophe.
The park is being developed with a $3.18 million grant from the Washington-based Global Environment Facility. The Azad Kashmir government is contributing around $0.25 million. Mr Dar said the loss could have been avoided had the villagers been aware of ways of pushing the carnivore back to its habitat.
“If they had set off fire-crackers or beaten drums the animal might have gone back to its habitat,” he said. The official said an inquiry committee had been constituted to probe into the villagers’ claims that the animal was killed for fear of their lives.
“If the committee didn’t find any evidence to support the villagers’ claims, then the accused will have to face the penalty under the Wildlife Act which includes imprisonment of up to six months and fine varying from case to case,” he said.
“But there is no penalty if it is established that the wild animal is killed in self-defence,” he added.
Mr Dar said the wildlife department staff had flayed the skin of the animal for stuffing with the help of a natural history museum in Pakistan.
The wildlife laws ban trade of wildlife species or any of their parts.
Two years back, the AJK wildlife authorities had fined a villager Rs40,000 for killing a similar species.
Panthera Pardus is found in the mountains of Kashmir, adjoining Murree hills and parts of the North-West Frontier Province.
Although no correct census has been held in any part of Pakistan to determine its population, Mr Dar said that indirect evidence showed that its population had increased in the AJK over the past six or seven years.
