Killing of leopards continues unabated

DFO Khyber says security situation, lack of resources hinder conservation efforts

PESHAWAR:

The incidents of killing of the endangered common leopard have been on the rise across Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P).

In Khyber tribal district alone, three leopard cubs have been killed as two cubs were poisoned to death or shot on February 15 in the far-flung area of Tirah valley and another one was hunted down in the Shalman area of Landi Kotal.

Last year too, two adult leopards were killed when they attacked livestock in the mountains of Hassan Khel and Darra Adam Khel.

These deaths have forced local residents to start a campaign for the protection of leopards on social media and the government is being criticized for its inaction.

In 2020 a common leopard was killed when it entered a village in the Matta tehsil of Swat.

Talking to The Express Tribune, DFO Wildlife Khyber, Abdul Halim Marwat said that the local population migrated to other districts due to militancy and as a result the population of common leopard multiplied rapidly in the forests but after their return human-leopard contacts were on the rise.

“Local resident rear livestock and when these leopards attack them, farmers often kill them. The wildlife department could not intervene due to the prevailing law and order situation,” he said.

He maintained that for the past one year, Wildlife Department has been expanded to the tribal districts but they are still faced with shortage of staff, buildings and financial resources so the field work is very limited.

“The man who killed two leopard cubs has been arrested and fined while the most recent incident in Landi Kotal is being investigated,” he said.

No scientific survey has been conducted in the tribal districts to ascertain the total number of common leopards and a plan to do so has been gathering dust for the past two years in the offices.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 28^th, 2023.