Wildlife officials say slain leopard local, not Indian

KARACHI:

It is just an assumption that the leopard killed in Tharparkar had entered Sindh from the Indian side, officials of the Sindh Wildlife Department said.

Trashing the rumors that the recently slain leopard had entered Sindh from across the Indian border, they said border of India with Sindh was fenced. Moreover, the impression that leopards of this species were not found in Sindh was completely wrong, SWD officials said adding, the Thar region has never been historically surveyed. In the past there had also been incidents of people killing leopards and even then there were rumors of leopards entering from India.

Meanwhile, SWD Mirpurkhas Deputy Conservator was ordered to conduct a detailed inquiry into the incident. The body of the slain leopard weighing 62kgs was shifted to Karachi yesterday. The common leopard had been shot once in the neck and once in the head, while several marks of wounds inflicted by axes were also found on its body.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, January 6^th, 2023.