Fawad Chaudhry, a leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), has stated that the federal capital has been developed by intruding into leopards’ natural habitat, which makes it the citizens’ duty to take care of the wildlife.
He made these remarks after a leap (group) of leopards was spotted in Islamabad’s Saidpur village, which spread panic among the locals, and forced the authorities to station policemen in the area on Thursday night.
اسلام آباد چیتوں کی جگہ پر قبضہ کر کے بنا ہے ، چیتوں نے بھی رہنا ہے ان کا بھی خیال کرنا اسلام آباد کے ہر شہری کا فرض ہے https://t.co/AAaS8RhQ3M
— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) November 18, 2022
In addition, there have been multiple reports of leopards being killed after being sighted in populated areas, therefore, Fawad Chaudhry’s statements further underline the need for protecting wildlife.
According to Rina S. Khan Satti, Chairperson of the Islamabad Wildlife Management Board (IWMB), a leopard was killed by a mob in a village of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) on 1 February this year.
Following the incident, she tweeted that a crowd of 200 locals in the Hattian Bala area of the Jhelum Valley had killed the wild cat.
In a separate incident, two brothers were recently killed by a leopard ambush in the Neelum Valley of AJK in September, thus the danger these predators pose to humans is undeniable.
However, if the wildlife department has sufficient personnel and protective equipment, human and animal lives can be safeguarded without putting anybody in mortal danger.
