ISLAMABAD, July 6: According to a story of Noah’s ark, it is desire of God that all life be preserved but this divine wish carries no weight in this part of the world where many animal species face extinction.

And, it is understandable in a country like ours where even human beings are now also endangered.

A recent publication prepared by the Biodiversity Directorate, Ministry of Environment with wide consultation with stakeholders across the country by generous support of international NGOs sketches a gloomy future of Pakistan’s wild life.

The publication “Biodiversity of Pakistan: Status, trends and threats” states that In the last 400 years, at least four mammals are known to have disappeared from Pakistan, which are the tiger, swamp deer, lion and the Indian One-Horned Rhinoceros.

Furthermore, four other species have also gone extinct. They comprise Indian wild ass, the Hangul (deer) and the Blackbuck which is listed as extinct but has been bred in captivity. Marita was the last Asiatic Cheetah in Pakistan that lived for nearly 10 years in captivity.

Cheer Pheasant is another example of recent extinction of a pheasant species in the wild. Nonetheless, behavioural study on captive flock of the cheer pheasants shows the bird exhibited a number of survival instincts that promise its successful reintroduction.

Spread over nearly 130 pages, the publication said striped Hyena and the wolf were widely distributed in the sparsely populated parts of the country. However, information about Hyena was scanty and data about carnivores in general was difficult to obtain because of their nocturnal mode of life and high mobility.

The black and brown bears populations were also not well understood.

Birds of prey like the peregrine, cherrug or saker falcons, tawny eagle, imperial and greater spotted eagles, osprey, shikra and the black-winged kite occur throughout the country but their population status was unknown.

Two rare species of Indian wolf found in Deosai National Park and in deserts of Cholistan and Tharparkar were also described as endangered. According to estimates by wildlife officers and field biologists, nearly 300 survived in Pakistan.

The publication described Balochistan Back Bear as “critically endangered”. Little is known about the ecology and biology of the species.

Last study, according to the publication, on different families of snakes was carried out in early 60s.

Pakistan possessed a diversity of snake species. Over 65 species from seven families had been identified. The publication stated that elaborate studies would definitely reveal new species.

However, no protection was accorded to these or any other snake. Some important and threatened snake species

in the country include

Indian Python, Red-spotted diadem snake, Himalayan

pit viper, Leaf-nosed viper, Oxus cobra, Sindh river snake and Maynards’s awl-headed snake.

Nonetheless, conservation efforts have resulted in five per cent annual growth of Himalayan Brown Bear in reserves in the Deosai Plains. The Mugger Crocodiles in Sindh have grown to 2,000 due to conservation. But, these are threatened in Balochistan where they were killed or hidden as specimens in laboratories and museums, the publication revealed.