CHITRAL: A group of Himalayan lynx killed 18 goats of a farmer in Bilphok village near Chitral city, local sources said.

Imtiaz Hussain, the divisional forest officer of wildlife division, confirmed to Dawn here on Monday that the farmer, Nadir Baig, found 18 goats of his herd dead in his corral.

The official said that they confirmed the presence of Himalayan lynx in the area by camera trapping method the next night.

He said that a number of lynx were seen roaming in the vicinity of the village.

Regarding the number of the wild cat, responsible for killing the goats, he said that three to four lynx were spotted by the camera which only killed the goats and did not eat them.

Mr Hussain claimed that the population of lynx acquired the desired density in the area due to better conservation process by involving the local communities. It indicated a sound ecology, he said.

The official said that the farmer would be compensated for the loss of his goats from the local village conservation community.

An ecologist working in another organisation, requesting anonymity, said that the compensation was must to avoid human-carnivorous conflict because the villagers would shoot down the animals to save their livestock on which they depended for their sustenance.

He said that it was the instinct of the Himalayan lynx to kill maximum number of livestock when it attacked the herd while other wild animals including snow leopard captured and killed the aged and the unhealthy animals to eat them.

He said that the lynx was attacking livestock being grazing in the pastures but it was a rare incident as the cat attacked the human settlement.

Niamat Khan, a villager, said that panic gripped the village at first as the killer was believed to be a snow leopard but they heaved a sigh of relief when the authorities of wildlife department told them that it was a Himalayan lynx.

Published in Dawn, February 17th, 2015

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