K & P

Endangered species: Leopard dies of poisoning in Abbottabad

The type of poison which was used to kill the animal would be determined by a forensics laboratory.

Muhammad Sadaqat March 19, 2015

The leopard was a 10-year-old male and belonged to a common species found in Galiyat and Tarnawai forest areas. PHOTO: ONLINE

ABBOTABAD:

The autopsy of a leopard which was found dead on Wednesday has revealed that the feline was poisoned, said Dr Muhammad Zafran Turk who is in charge of Government Veterinary Hospital Abbottabad on Thursday.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, Turk said the leopard was brought to the hospital on Wednesday for a post-mortem and had no injuries on its body. “The leopard was a 10-year-old male and belonged to a common species found in Galiyat and Tarnawai forest areas.”

Animal cruelty

According to Dr Turk, the type of poison which was used to kill the animal would be determined by a forensics laboratory.

“The leopard was presumably the oldest in the area because two of its teeth were missing,” said Dr Turk, adding this suggests he was unable to catch and kill its prey so it was relying on easily-obtainable food and ended up eating poisoned meat.

“It would have certainly moved down from snow-covered Tarnawai or Galiyat forest ranges to populated areas in search of food and became the victim of some villagers who might have already planned to kill it,” the vet speculated.

He added that in the autopsy they found a piece of poisoned goat meat from the leopard’s stomach. “Someone might have deliberately poisoned it fearing it would attack people or cattle. Or they wanted to sell its hide,” said Dr Turk.

Although the type of poison cannot be confirmed, its severity can be gauged from the clots found in the leopard’s mouth, he added. Materials found during the post-mortem have been handed over to wildlife officials to send to Lahore for forensic testing.

In reply to a question, Dr Turk said since leopards are regarded ‘near threatened’ endangered species by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, the wildlife department should take concrete steps to protect them.

The leopard’s body was seized by wildlife officials in Chatiyan in Qalandarabad on March 17 when unidentified people were carrying it in a sack, attempting to move it to an unknown location. Upon being discovered, they left the body and escaped.

The wildlife department has lodged a complaint against unidentified people for killing the animal.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 20^th, 2015.