ISLAMABAD: Minister for Climate Change and Environmental Coordination Dr Musadik Malik on Saturday condemned the killing of a deer in Margalla Hills directing immediate inquiry.

A video has been circulating on media of a deer being put down apparently in the Margalla Hills. Dr Musadik Malik has taken notice of the incident and had strongly condemned the hunting and killing of wildlife in protected areas.

“The concerned authorities have been directed to conduct an inquiry into the incident and submit a report at the earliest,” said an official in the ministry requesting anonymity. He said the location of the incident could not be ascertained immediately and a thorough inquiry would reveal where exactly the deer was put down.

The minister emphasised that such acts of cruelty and disregard for conservation laws were unacceptable and would not be tolerated.

The video shows a man holding down an already dead deer, another cutting its throat with a small and a blunt blade while a third individual, holding a wireless, stands observing. Later the man holding the deer down is seen throwing the deer over his shoulders and walking away. The scenery seems more commensurate with Nathia Gali or Kashmir, which is yet to be established.

IWMB without qualified chairperson

On the other hand, the government seems uninterested in appointing a relevant and qualified chairperson for the Islamabad Wildlife Management Board (IWMB).

Four months ago in March, Federal Minister Dr Musadik Malik reprimanded his team for failing to appoint a permanent head of the board.

The ministry officials were not qualified and unfit to manage the affairs of the board and were advised to look after administrative issues of the ministry, Musadik Malik had stressed.

“These strict instructions were given in March, after a press talk when a rescued black bear was welcomed to its new home – the only wildlife rescue and rehabilitation centre (old Islamabad zoo) in Islamabad,” the official said.

Secretary Ministry of Climate Change and Environmental Coordination Aisha Humera Moriani took over acting charge of the IWMB after the board’s former chairperson, Rina Saeed Khan, was unceremoniously removed from her position.

This potential move had raised alarm among environmentalists and civil society in the capital.

The IWMB, particularly its former chairperson Rina Saeed Khan, had faced scrutiny since the Supreme Court ordered the demolition of the Monal Restaurant in the Margalla Hills National Park.

In the landmark decision on July 11, 2024, a three-member bench of the Supreme Court, led by then chief justice Qazi Faez Isa, ruled that granting leases to mega restaurants in the protected national park violated Section 21 of the Islamabad Wildlife Ordinance 1979.

Soon after the verdict, the ministry issued a notification removing Ms Khan from her position and placed the IWMB under the administrative control of the interior ministry.

The move sparked legal challenges with civil society groups approaching the Supreme Court.

During proceedings, CJP Isa noted that the notification had been issued by Cabinet Secretary Kamran Ali Afzal, the brother of Monal Restaurant’s owner, prompting concerns over a potential conflict of interest. In September 2024, the IWMB carried out the Supreme Court’s orders, overseeing the demolition of Monal and other illegal structures in the protected area.

Nonetheless, the autonomous IWMB was dissolved and reconstituted with bureaucrats while the climate change ministry’s additional secretary was made its interim chairperson.

Published in Dawn, July 6th, 2025