Wildlife activists decry poaching of jackals in Balochistan

Concerns raised after video emerges showing jackals being slaughtered and skinned in Balochistan's Khuzdar district.

LAHORE:

Wildlife conservation non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and animal rights activists have raised alarm over the poaching of wild jackals in Balochistan's Khuzdar district.

A video began circulating on social media showing two jackals being killed and skinned in the mountainous region of Khuzdar.

"In the mountains of Turandian in Khuzdar's Bagbana Tehsil, jackals were killed for their skins...video shows individuals skinning the jackals, who were killed for a few rupees," Technical Advisor for WWF Pakistan Muzammil Khan said expressing his outrage over the incident.

Khan has called for immediate action against those involved.

"The deputy commissioner of Khuzdar must take swift action against those responsible for this wildlife massacre," he demanded.

The Pakistan Wildlife Foundation has also expressed concern over the brutal killing of the jackals.

Local journalist Iqbal Mangi from Khuzdar told Express Tribune that jackals are abundant in the area where the killings occurred.

"There is a common belief among locals that jackal skins sell for a high price, which leads people to kill the jackals for their skins," he explained.

Earlier this year, on January 23, the officials reported that local villagers killed a rare white leopard within the boundaries of Kerthar National Park on Monday night.

The Sindh Wildlife Department (SWD) swiftly took action, registering a case against five individuals involved in the killing.

The Express Tribune was told that the leopard was shot dead, and photos of the incident were circulated on social media, sparking public outrage.

After a recent horrific incident involving a cruel owner who severely tortured a camel and chopped off its leg for entering his fields, a similar case of animal cruelty emerged in Sindh on Saturday when another camel was found dead in Kunri tehsil with all four legs amputated.