PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa wildlife department has seized two leopard cubs in Orakzai tribal district, while locals killed a female common leopard in the adjacent Kurram tribal district, officials said on Wednesday.

Chief conservator wildlife Dr Mohsin Farooqui confirmed confiscation of cubs in Orakzai. He said leopard cubs, which have been listed as least concern on the IUCN Red List, would be shifted to the wildlife park sanctuary in Dera Ismail Khan.

An official told Dawn in Kalaya, the district headquarters of Orakzai, that the cubs were recovered from a local at Sheikhan village in the upper tehsil two days ago. He said the possessor of the cubs identified as Gul Aman had approached the wildlife officials and demanded cash for handing over the cubs.

He said officials from Kohat recovered the cubs with the help of the local administration.

Meanwhile, local people killed a female common leopard in Kurram district.

Officials said an encounter between the locals and the leopard took place when villagers were tracing warthogs in the area. They said people opened fire when the leopard attacked dogs chasing warthogs.

The local people said warthog population had increased which destroyed their crops.

The wildlife department has adopted measures for the conservation of wildlife after extension of the relevant act to the merged districts.

Published in Dawn, July 23rd, 2020