August 10, 2006	Thursday	Rajab 14, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, Aug 9: Leo, an orphaned leopard cub saved and cared by a young man in Northern Areas, left for an American zoo on Wednesday to thrive in wild but safe environs.

Listed as critically endangered species because of illegal hunting and retribution killings by poachers and herders, the 13-month snow leopard cub was handed over to the officials of the Wildlife Conservation Society/Bronx Zoo, New York at a ceremony at Serena Hotel on Tuesday.

Minister of State for Environment, Malik Amin Aslam and the US Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker were the chief guests at the ceremony.

Leo’s ordeal began in July, 2005, when a landslide killed its mother at Naltar Valley, 25 kilometres off Gilgit. The two weeks Leo and his sister was found in a mud by a local shepherd who brought them to his house. The poor shepherd could not properly feed them and the female cub died after a week in his captivity.

Unable to provide proper care to Leo, the shepherd handed over the cub to the local office of the World Wild Fund for Nature-Pakistan (WWF-P).

They shifted Leo to Khunjerab National Park, a safe sanctuary for wild animals on China border and handed over to a young conservationist of the area.

“Leo was ill, very weak and weighed only 1.5 kilograms when it was given to me on July 14 last year”, said Kamaluddin, a resident of Sust, in the upper Hunza. “I looked after the cub like my child and gave him goat milk.

Standing 21 inches tall and weighing 25 kilograms, Leo is in now in very good health, Kamal said.

The US Embassy in Islamabad was informed about the cub’s situation which suggested that it could be shifted to an international facility for captive breeding as part of a long-term conservation programme.

WWF-P, Pakistan government and IUCN for the past seven months had been engaged in the process to enable the cub to enter the Bronx Zoo.

A team of experts from the zoo had been in Pakistan since July 30 to ensure smooth transportation of the animal to the United States.

“Snow leopard cubs in the wild normally stay with their mother until the age of about 18 to 22 months, learning all the basic skills necessary for survival in the extreme environment they inhabit”, said Dr Patrick Thomas, a specialist from the Bronx Zoo.

Leo had been dependent on humans virtually since birth. It was not practical to release him back into the wild. This necessitated looking at other possibilities to ensure his long-term survival, he said.

“We want to encourage his natural behaviour pattern. And until a facility can be built in Pakistan for its proper care, the cub will remain in its temporary home in the Bronx Zoo,” said Dr Thomas.

Leo would have a female companion in the zoo. We want to provide him an enriching and stimulating environment, he said.

Speaking on the occasion, US ambassador Ryan C. Crocker said, “this is a special occasion because it expands Pakistan and US partnership”.

Appreciating Kamaluddin’s phenomenal contribution in bringing up Leo, the US ambassador said “the cub is on a non-immigrant visa and will be back to its natural habitat.”

APP adds: Officials of the Pakistan government and the Bronx Zoo signed and exchanged MoU under which the Wildlife Conservation Society would assist Pakistan in the development of a rehabilitation facility in Northern Areas and an international training and capacity building for future staff of the facility.