It was tragic to learn wildlife officials were not able to take care of it, died because of injuries or of pneumonia.
KARACHI: I would like to comment on two recent news stories that appeared in The Express Tribune relating to a snow leopard cub — “Not a purrfect day” published on January 16 and “Snow leopard dies of injuries despite treatment” published on January 19 — as the reporting tends to create the misperception that a snow leopard cub can kill an animal three times its own size. While attacking animals is not a problem for a full-grown snow leopard, a two-month-old cub is certainly not capable of anything like this. It is still on mother’s milk and it is just too small to be even able to chase wild prey, let alone kill it.
Moreover, the story published on January 19 suggested that the leopard cub “came in search of food and attacked some livestock”. This is also misleading. A cub that young cannot attack anything larger than a chicken. The poor cub probably just got separated from the mother and strayed into the village. It was tragic to learn that the wildlife officials were not able to take care of it and it died because of either injuries or of pneumonia. In all probability, it just died of trauma. Every time a wild animal is caught, countless people surround it, all talking loudly, taking photos, trying to touch it and generally creating huge stress and trauma for even the most courageous of wild animals. The standard operating procedure every time a wild animal is caught should be to immediately isolate it to a very quiet, dark and cosy quarter, with no one except the attending vet and one assistant allowed anywhere near to it.
Finally the January 19 story concluded by stating that the “rivalry between humans and the wild cat continues”. I believe it is not really a rivalry at all. It is blatant human transgression into the habitat of wild animals, destroying the ecosystem they depend on for survival and forcing them to come into contact with humans — something every single wildlife species wishes to avoid at all costs.
Zohare Ali Shariff
Published in The Express Tribune, January 21st, 2014.
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