CHITRAL: The sick Kashmir markhor being tended to at the divisional forest office died on Thursday.

The stranded Himalayan goat was rescued from an inaccessible cliff in Nirdet Gol area of Gahirait-Golen conservancy three days ago.

Divisional forest officer of the wildlife division Chitral Imtiaz Hussain told Dawn that the five-year-old markhor suffered from intestinal diseases as shown in the postmortem done by veterinarians.

He said the animal’s intestine were found to be badly infested with worms, which ruined its digestive system, while the body was found to be swollen at the time when community workers shifted it to the veterinary hospital.

Hussain said the specimen of the rescued markhor’s flesh, intestine and spleen were being sent to the Veterinary Research Institute Peshawar for further examination. He said the animal’s horns would be shifted to the department’s provincial headquarters for display at the wildlife museum.

The forest officer said he had sent a team of his staff to the conservancy to know if the disease was found in other markhors, whose population had been estimated to be around 400.

Golen-Gahirait conservancy president Fazlur Rahman expressed shock at the markhor’s death and said it meant the loss of Rs10 million, which was the value of the permit for trophy hunting of markhor.

He said the permit was sold for Rs10.03 million last year.

Rahman said community workers mourned the death of the markhor for whose rescue they spent more than six hours endangering their life.

He said he was satisfied with the treatment of the ailing markhor and that the government should establish an upgraded diagnostic laboratory for animals in Chitral.

Published in Dawn, February 28th, 2015

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