ISLAMABAD: The parliament building had an unusual visitor, a harmless civet cat that created quite a panic among people on Tuesday morning.

The mammal, which was eventually rescued by staff of Capital Development Authority (CDA) and released in a green belt, which is also its natural habitat, sneaked into the parliament building through drains or air condition ducts to escape rains from the previous night.

“Besides the Margalla Hills and Shakarparian, civet cats can also be commonly found in nullahs (streams/drains) and green belts along with jackals. Their bites can cause rabies but a civet cat bite has never been reported,” said chairperson of Islamabad Wildlife Management Board (IWMB) Rina Saeed Khan.

Commenting on videos of its rescue, Ms Khan said that the civet cat, which looks like a cross between a wild cat and a mongoose, was scared and only wanted to escape back into its habitat.

The wild animal fell through a false ceiling in an office and the video of its capture showed CDA staff running after and cornering it, throwing a piece of clothing over it to grab it.

Small wild animals venturing into parliament, in search for food was nothing new. There have been incidents in the past when common leopards had also intruded into the parliament and prime minister’s house.

Published in Dawn, April 19th, 2023