PESHAWAR, Nov 19: The NWFP Wildlife Department after trapping an adult female snow leopard a few days ago has successfully fitted a satellite collar in her body and released her in the Chitral Gol National Park.

“The snow leopard was trapped last Friday and was released in Chitral Gol National Park by fitting a satellite collar in her body that would help to monitor her movement, besides giving timely information to identify her habitat for future conservation and protection,” chief conservator of the NWFP Wildlife Department Dr Mumtaz Malik said here on Sunday.

The device would also help to track other snow leopards that might be there in nearby areas, so that endangered species could be used for breeding to increase its population, he added.

Dr Malik said that there were about 300 snow leopards in different parts of the country and it needed further breeding on scientific lines to raise the number of the rare species.

The Wildlife chief said that Protected Areas Management Project has been launched with the financial assistance of Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the World Bank for conservation and protection of the species.

The conservation programme is also under way in Farhang Gol National Park in Balochistan and Farma Chera National Park in Azad Kashmir besides Chitral Gol National Park with the assistance of the World Bank, he said.—APP