DERA GHAZI KHAN: A group of villagers hounded and killed an endangered Indian wolf in the Dajal area late on Thursday and later in a bizarre move, ripped its body apart.

Wildlife experts say a starving Indian wolf pair with their cubs wandered in the arid zone of Dera Ghazi Khan from the mountainous Suleiman range in search of food.

Wolves and hyenas often land in arid zones because of extensive hunting of wild rabbits, mountain goats and sheep in the mountains.

In the past week, the villagers were alerted when the pack killed a few donkeys and goats near village Jogiani and Makli. Last week, local teacher and wildlife activist Attaullah Birmani had managed a safe passage for the pack when the villagers had cornered them near the village. He convinced the people not to kill the wild animals, which were a part of the eco system.

Teams of WWF and Wildlife Department had visited the areas and urged the villagers not to kill wolves.

But the male wolf did not get a second chance late on Thursday when the starved pack got the sight of villagers. The female wolf and cubs managed to flee the deadly attack.

Once the shooting was done, villagers ripped the wolf and took away the every shred of its skin and pads, which are high in demand for witchcraft.

On Friday, a team of Wildlife Department visited the area to take the body of wolf which was without skin and pads.

Wildlife Deputy Director Khursheed Alim Qaisrani told Dawn they had fined Munir Khosa, Sharif Faqeero and Shahnawaz for killing the wild animal under the Wildlife Act.

Published in Dawn, April 11th, 2015

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