Inside the Pakistan Museum of Pure Historical past, in Islamabad, two taxidermists work on a leopard pores and skin. They scrape away on the remaining flesh and sprinkle the underside with boric acid powder. It’s troublesome to look away from the 2 holes the place the leopard’s eyes must be.
“We ask conservation teams, in the event that they discover any useless specimen, to relay it to us in order that we are able to protect it and make it accessible to younger researchers,” says Muhammad Asif Khan, the museum’s director of zoological science. “This specific leopard died from gunshot wounds within the Azad Jammu and Kashmir area,” he says.
Its loss of life was not an remoted occasion. Social media is flooded with pictures and movies of leopards which have been shot, poisoned or crushed to loss of life throughout the nation. Conservationists warn that the wave of incidents is threatening the survival in Pakistan of the species, which is thought of susceptible globally.
“The variety of leopard killings has dramatically elevated up to now few years,” says Muhammad Waseem from the World Wildlife Fund. Unpublished information collected by his group in 2024 signifies that 45 leopards had been killed up to now 5 years – the identical quantity recorded over the earlier 12. “I imagine charges are even increased than the information suggests,” says Waseem. “Many killings go unreported.”
Whereas leopards are generally killed for his or her beneficial pelts, Waseem says nearly all of recorded circumstances are acts of retaliation – triggered by assaults on individuals or, extra incessantly, their livestock. Earlier than the Nineteen Nineties, human-leopard battle was uncommon, however fast deforestation (Pakistan’s forest now covers lower than 5% of its land, in contrast with a global common of 31%) has pushed leopards nearer to human settlements. Within the Galiyat space, within the north-western province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, this battle escalated dramatically within the 2000s, culminating in a rash of human fatalities. One leopard, nicknamed “the Ghost of the Galiyats” is reported to have killed six girls earlier than being trapped and killed by police in 2005.
Girls face a heightened threat of leopard assaults. In rural communities, they’re usually liable for gathering water and firewood, a job that may require strolling a number of kilometres by way of forested areas and stopping at water sources. To a leopard, these actions might resemble these of prey. Conservation teams have labored with native girls and schoolchildren on tips on how to minimise dangers – for instance, by travelling in teams. These efforts have considerably diminished the variety of assaults on people.
Nonetheless, they haven’t stopped them completely. Salamat Ali, a development employee from the Galiyat area, was strolling residence from work three years in the past when a leopard pounced on him, knocking him unconscious and tearing off a part of his calf muscle. He survived, however the restoration was lengthy. He has been unable to work since.
Leopard assaults on livestock stay widespread throughout Pakistan. For small-scale farmers, the monetary loss may be devastating. “I’d be joyful if there have been no leopards,” says Mohammad Yaqub, a farmer who lately misplaced a number of goats. “They’re harming us.”
“At any time when a leopard assaults livestock, individuals develop into aggressive,” says Sajid Hussain, a community-based conservationist identified regionally as Sherwala, “the large cat man”. For the previous 20 years, he has been making an attempt to handle human-leopard battle in and round Ayubia nationwide park, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. “In my view, persons are killing leopards as a result of there isn’t any correct authorities compensation system.”
Some provincial governments, together with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, provide compensation to victims of wildlife assaults. In follow, nonetheless, the method is extremely bureaucratic. The affected particular person should submit a request on the nearest wildlife workplace – which can be hours away – and supply proof of the assault. If their livestock had been grazing in a protected forest space, they’re routinely disqualified, despite the fact that some communities reside inside protected zones and haven’t any various grazing land. Even when compensation is granted, funds are small and may take months and even years to course of. Many affected individuals forgo authorities compensation altogether, relying as an alternative on their households and neighbours for help.
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Girls face a heightened threat of assault when gathering firewood and water. Consciousness classes (proper) are held to advise them on security measures. Fundamental picture: Samiya, now fifteen, suffered critical accidents from a leopard assault on the age of 5
A key downside, Waseem explains, is that the funds come from the state’s price range for pure disasters, which is already stretched skinny as a result of Pakistan’s susceptibility to excessive climate occasions. In consequence, human-wildlife battle has develop into a decrease precedence. “Apart from a correct compensation system for victims of human-wildlife battle, we have to equip our departments with a skilled taskforce to cope with these points,” he says. If leopard killings aren’t curbed, Waseem warns of a drastic inhabitants decline. The variety of wild leopards left in Pakistan is unknown, however estimates recommend only some hundred stay.
Though Pakistan’s leopard inhabitants is sparse, it spans a lot of the nation. Even Islamabad, the capital, is residence to a small inhabitants of about 10 wild leopards, which roam the Margalla Hills nationwide park on town’s outskirts. Proximity to city areas makes these leopards notably susceptible. Regardless of the efforts of native environmental teams, a bullet-riddled leopard was discovered useless within the park lower than two years in the past.
Islamabad can also be residence to the Margalla Wildlife Rescue Centre, which rehabilitates injured wildlife from throughout the nation. In one of many enclosures, two new arrivals discover their environment: leopard cubs orphaned when their mom was shot. They fearlessly scale the wire mesh of the enclosure, to the amusement – and concern – of the rangers. Leopards are notoriously expert climbers.
“We’ll need to fortify the enclosure earlier than they get greater,” says Sana Raja, who manages the centre.
“It could be nice if we might launch them into the wild,” says Raja. “However they had been separated from their mom so younger, I don’t suppose will probably be attainable. We are going to take care of them as greatest we are able to.”
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