Lolly's guardians growl at idea of marriage with commoner

The common leopard in K-P was not compatible with Lolly the snow leopard

GILGIT: The Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) wildlife department may have averted an exercise in futility. Although the parties involved may beg to differ.

Lolly, a female snow leopard who has been in captivity in Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) for the past four years, was recently courted by another leopard from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) on Sunday.

The proposal, however, was turned down by the authorities in G-B as the suitor was only a 'common' leopard, and may not have been able to produce desirable cubs with her.

“The K-P wildlife department wanted us to shift Lolly to the province to breed it with a male wildcat being held in captivity there,” said an official on the condition of anonymity.

“We had our doubts as to what kind of leopard they had...to breed a snow leopard with an average leopard would be unwise,'' the source added.



The G-B wildlife department then sought confirmation of the K-P cat's sub-species from their counterparts, and the response received was unsatisfactory.

The K-P government approached G-B via the minister of climate change to approve the proposal for Lolly, but to no avail.

This particular wildcat was taken into captivity in December 2012, when it was a six-months old.

She was abandoned by her mother after getting injured on a riverside in Khunjerab National Park, Hunza.

A field team of the wildlife department spotted it and sent it for veterinary care, following which the cub was moved to a rehabilitation centre.

Lolly had to live in a small cage in the Dhee area of the national park for three years before being shifted to a centre in Naltar valley.

The facility Lolly currently lives in is spread over four kanals and has an atmosphere more reminiscent of her natural range in the wild.



Find her own mate

We received a proposal from K-P last year but nothing materialised,” said G-B Wildlife and Forests Secretary Sajjad Haider.

“The survival and well-being of the wildcat is of the utmost importance to us,'' he added.

Haider said that this is why they were keen to see a good match found for Lolly.

But at the same time, the authorities are preparing to release the female snow leopard into the wild as she is now five years old.

Haider said that the wildlife authority is hopeful that Lolly will regain her wild instincts now that she has the freedom to roam.