Wild cats: Snow leopard cub dies of injuries despite treatment
The cub was hit on the head with a stone when it attacked livestock.
The cub was hit on the head with a stone when it attacked livestock. PHOTO: EXPRESS
GILGIT:
The snow leopard cub caught by the authorities earlier this week passed away because of its wounds on Friday.
While talking to The Express Tribune on Saturday, the secretary of forests, Khadim Hussain, claimed that the government had given the cub the best treatment possible but they had been unsuccessful in trying to save its life.
Earlier in the day, many officials from the wildlife department, including the divisional forest officer, Aftab Mehmood, had tried to deny the cub’s death. Mehmood claimed that he was unaware that such a thing had happened.
An official from the wildlife department who wished to remain anonymous claimed that the cub had not died of wounds, but of pneumonia. He added that they had not been able to take proper care of the cub as the department did not have facilities to deal with such cases.
On Monday, the cub came to Danyor Valley, about 25 kilometres away from Gilgit in search of food. It attacked some livestock and was hit on the head with a stone by a man who assumed the cub was a house pet.
The community handed the cub over to the wildlife department. The snow leopard (Panthera uncia) is an endangered species capable of killing prey three times its weight. This wild cat in the Himalaya and Tibet eats bharal – better known as the Himalayan blue sheep. It is on the IUCN Red list, putting it among the top threatened species in the globe.
It is believed that climate change, scarcity of food and loss of habitat are some of the key factors pushing snow leopards to prey on domesticated animals, necessitating its conservation.
In Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B), incidents of capturing and injuring of snow leopards have been reported many times in the past as the rivalry between humans and the wild cat continues.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 19th, 2014.
The snow leopard cub caught by the authorities earlier this week passed away because of its wounds on Friday.
While talking to The Express Tribune on Saturday, the secretary of forests, Khadim Hussain, claimed that the government had given the cub the best treatment possible but they had been unsuccessful in trying to save its life.
Earlier in the day, many officials from the wildlife department, including the divisional forest officer, Aftab Mehmood, had tried to deny the cub’s death. Mehmood claimed that he was unaware that such a thing had happened.
An official from the wildlife department who wished to remain anonymous claimed that the cub had not died of wounds, but of pneumonia. He added that they had not been able to take proper care of the cub as the department did not have facilities to deal with such cases.
On Monday, the cub came to Danyor Valley, about 25 kilometres away from Gilgit in search of food. It attacked some livestock and was hit on the head with a stone by a man who assumed the cub was a house pet.
The community handed the cub over to the wildlife department. The snow leopard (Panthera uncia) is an endangered species capable of killing prey three times its weight. This wild cat in the Himalaya and Tibet eats bharal – better known as the Himalayan blue sheep. It is on the IUCN Red list, putting it among the top threatened species in the globe.
It is believed that climate change, scarcity of food and loss of habitat are some of the key factors pushing snow leopards to prey on domesticated animals, necessitating its conservation.
In Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B), incidents of capturing and injuring of snow leopards have been reported many times in the past as the rivalry between humans and the wild cat continues.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 19th, 2014.