Falling leopard population

Pakistan's leopard population is facing a very real threat of extinction, as poaching and habitat loss are causing their numbers to dwindle. While populations - according to the data available locally - are edging up in national parks and other protected areas, the vast majority of big cats do not live in these areas, and their population is believed to be falling fast after appearing to rise for several years in the late 2000s and early 2010s.

Interestingly, the rise was attributed to the militant insurgency across the ex-Fata regions and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Many areas from where locals fled after militants had taken control also happened to be the leopards' habitat. Without villagers cutting down forests for firewood or shooting leopards to protect grazing livestock, the big cats flourished. But after peace was restored and people began returning to their homes, the leopards were seen as invasive pests, and have been hunted down since. While local wildlife authorities sometimes intervene and relocate the animals, limited manpower and lack of public awareness about conservation mean that officials often arrive too late to intervene. Another compounding factor is that even though farmers have a right to compensation for livestock under the Wildlife Act 2015, it is very hard to get the money.

But while farmers and villagers killing leopards to protect themselves and their property can at least be rationalised, there has also been an uptick in poaching, including an incident in Darra Adam Khel where two men killed leopard cubs and posted their pictures on social media. Unfortunately, the fines for poaching are relatively nominal - as little as Rs10,000. If we are to keep leopards from going extinct, we need to come up with more comprehensive conservation and awareness policies, while significantly increasing the penalties for poaching, such as adding a mandatory jail term and much higher fines.