KARACHI: In a very unusual occurrence, a Himalayan lynx was caught hunting a markhor on camera on the steep rocky cliffs of Chitral valley by a World Wide Fund for Nature-Pakistan (WWF-P) filmmaker assisted by a Khyber Pakhtunkhwa wildlife department team.

According to officials, this is for the first time that a nocturnal hunter and highly elusive animal has been filmed in the area.

The lynx, locally considered a rare species, is known to be present in Chitral and other northern areas of Pakistan, including Gilgit-Baltistan, although its exact distribution and range are not known.

“While filming a group of markhors in the Tooshi Community Game Reserve, outside Chitral town, we spotted a Himalayan lynx preparing for a hunt.

“The wild cat did not attack the large group of passing markhors, but it caught a yearling markhor, which was grazing by the riverside along with its mother,” WWF-P filmmaker Nyal Mueenuddin told Dawn.

For the first time, a nocturnal hunter and highly elusive animal has been filmed in Chitral

Mr Mueenuddin was recently on a mission to Chitral to film the Kashmir markhor with the support of KP wildlife department.

According to the team, when the lynx was sure that the prey had been killed, it retreated to a nearby tree to rest. The camera team waited for about an hour and a half before the lynx returned to the site of the hunt and began eating the carcass.

“We were able to move close to the lynx feasting on the markhor as there was a river between us and the lynx. Afterwards, the wild cat returned to the cliffs where it perched itself on a rock to rest and digest. The crew also captured drone images of the cat on the rock,” said Mr Mueenuddin.

Highlighting the threats to the Himalayan lynx, WWF-P Director General Hammad Naqi Khan said the Himalayan lynx was one of the last remaining apex predators in the area and played an essential role in maintaining the balance and health of the overall ecosystem.

“By protecting wild ungulates in the area with the help of local communities, we can help revive the declining population of many scavengers like lynx. There is a need to reduce human-wildlife conflict as it poses a serious threat to these species,” he said, adding that without the lynx this habitat would be irreparably disrupted.

Commenting on this rare shoot, Mohammad Idrees, Divisional Forest Officer, Chitral wildlife division, KP wildlife department, said that lynx attacks on ungulates, like the Himalayan ibex and markhor, had been reported for the past many years and were common in Chitral, particularly in the Chitral Gol National Park.

He said that humans were the biggest threat to wildlife due to growing human population, retaliatory killings, habitat loss, habitat fragmentation, deforestation and lack of awareness regarding ecosystem and food chains.

“The lynx competes with the snow leopard and wolf for food in its habitat range. Our wildlife teams are vigilant and work in close coordination with local communities to protect and conserve biodiversity of the area,” he said, adding that the department was planning to conduct a survey in the near future to assess lynx population.

According to WWF-P officials, population of the Kashmir markhor, once nearly extinct in the area, has substantially grown, thanks to community-based conservation actions taken by the government and other partners.

“An increase in the wild ungulate population provides the lynx with wild prey and reduces chances of its attacks on the livestock, which can force locals to kill the predator in retaliation,” Mr Idrees said.

Published in Dawn, April 25th, 2020