Month-old leopard cub caught in Mansehra

The wildlife department has caught a month-old leopard cub in Khalian village.

Deputy divisional officer (wildlife) Khursheed Abbasi said the cub had come down from the nearby natural habitat of Ghanool forests in Kaghan valley due to heavy snowfall.

He said Azizur Rehman had reported the big cat’s presence in his Khalian village prompting the department to send a team there to seize it and shift it to Dodial.

“We have begun caring for the feeble leopard. It will remain under special care until it’s in good physical shape,” he said.

Mr Abbasi said the department had yet to decide about whether to release the leopard in the forest to reunite with family or not.

He said the high mountains, natural habitat of leopard, had received record snowfall in a decade triggering fears about mass displacement of the wildlife, especially in Kaghan, Sirenand Konsh valleys.

The official said heavy snowfall had forced the rare species of pheasants, including Khalij, Koklass and Monal, to temporarily shift from high mountains to plains in Hazara division to prevent adverse effects of harsh weather.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa forest secretary Syed Nazar Hussain Shah on Tuesday said his department would plant one billion more saplings in the province under the 10 billion Trees Tsunami project launched by the federal government in the country.

“We have already planted 1.2 billon trees in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, while one billion more saplings are being planted in the province under the federal government’s Tsunami initiative,” he told reporters in Tanawal area here on Tuesday.

The secretary visited forests in Sawan Mera, Pulrah, Sawan Mera and Lassan Nawab areas to examine the planted sampling.

He said the government had appointed guardians for four years to carte for trees planted in the province.

Mr Shah said Sparco had been carrying out the satellite survey of plantation carried out under the Billion Tree Tsunami project in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

He said the federal government had also followed the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa forestation model to achieve the target of planting 10 billion trees.

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