ISLAMABAD, June 18: Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, on Tuesday, took a suo moto notice of an application which stated that residents near the National Park Donga Gali had been facing loss of life and property due to attacks by wild animals.

The application had been filed with the Human Rights Cell of the Supreme Court by Mohammad Riaz, a resident of Abbottabad.

Mr Riaz had stated that the wildlife department had not taken strict security measures for the national park, and lions were attacking both people and animals of nearby villages.

This was resulting in loss of lives and cattle, as a large number of domestic animals had died in these attacks.

He had also recommended that the park should be adequately protected and fenced so that wild animals were kept away from nearby villagers.

Taking notice of the matter, the chief justice ordered for the application to be forwarded to the secretary of the Wildlife Department, Govt of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for disposal, and asked for a report within two weeks.

However, an official of a non government organisation (NGO) working for the protection of wildlife in Pakistan said lions were not available in jungles throughout Pakistan.

“There are leopards in the national parks of the northern areas, but they usually do not attack citizens because they are less in number and can easily find prey in the wild. Sometimes, when a leopard gets sick or injured and can no longer chase animals, it may go for an easy prey,” he said.

“Such leopards start killing domestic animals in the villages which cannot run as fast as a deer or some other wild animal,” he added.

He said the management of these national parks in Pakistan had been trying to increase wild animals in park areas.

“They should fence the areas which are near villages as animals can venture there anytime,” he said.

“Fear of attack by wild animals is a problem all over the world, but they should not be killed merely out of terror. If an animal attacks, it should be relocated to a remote area where no village is in the vicinity,” he said.