WWF steps in

One of the biggest threats to wildlife comes from man.


Editorial January 06, 2013
One of the biggest threats to wildlife comes from man. PHOTO: EXPRESS/ FILE

Ayubia National Park in Abbottabad district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa is a habitat in which many beautiful wild leopards live. In recent times, these animals have begun to clash with the local human populations as their habitat is shrinking and the size of forests being reduced. These factors pose a threat to the survival of the leopards, for which now the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is stepping in. This should help our wildlife department understand how serious the threat to our wildlife might be and make it realise that steps need to be taken to prevent this and other species of animals from becoming extinct.

One of the biggest threats to these animals comes from man. Due to shrinking habitats, the animals often wander off to find food and end up becoming predators to livestock owned by people around the forests. Firstly, authorities should prohibit anyone from living in the national park. National parks should be limited to nature and not be transformed into residential areas. This will ensure adequate space for the animals to live in. As these animals wander off, the humans’ first instincts are usually to kill the wild cats. Humans should be removed from the area and provided other living space.

Animals require natural habitats to live in whereas humans create and customise their habitats; humans living in the area can adapt to other living spaces whereas these wild cats would have trouble in doing so. Hopefully, this research will provide concrete information about the cats’ movements so that park planning can be done accordingly in the best interest of protecting the lives of these animals, as well as allowing the humans there to live without fear. The discoveries made from this study could provide important insight on how to preserve the world’s leopard population and should be supported.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 7th, 2013.

COMMENTS

Replying to X

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.

For more information, please see our Comments FAQ