ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad Wildlife Management Board (IWMB) on Wednesday claimed that the leopard whose body was found last week, had died of natural causes.

In the toxin report, the National Veterinary Hospital, Ministry of National Food Security and Research, did not find any traces of poison.

“The leopard died of natural causes,” said IWMB Chairperson Rina Saeed Khan.

The leopard’s heart, lungs, kidney, liver and intestines had been sent to the laboratory to determine if the leopard had been poisoned by local villagers.

The body of the 10-year-old male leopard was found in a ravine in Sinyari, adjacent to Kalinjer, behind the Naval Defence Complex last week. There were fears that villagers might have poisoned the apex predator especially after it was spotted on a rooftop of a house in Saidpur village almost three weeks ago. The sighting had spread panic among villagers.

However, the IWMB said the leopard had possibly fallen and died after sustaining head injury. An investigation revealed a fracture on the head. There were no bullet wounds or scratches on the body and no blood or foaming around the mouth of the dead animal.

The IWMB also argued that the older leopard had intruded into the territory of a younger leopard and the younger leopard prevailed. The rosette pattern of the older leopard did not match any of the feline recording in the inventory of the IWMB. The board said Sinyari was a more isolated forest in the Margalla Hills National Park and had always been known to have housed a common leopard.

Published in Dawn, December 8th, 2022