Two leopards were killed by locals in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Tirah Valley on Friday.
The locals blamed the big cats for attacking cattle in the region. In a video circulating on social media, the locals are seen briefing police personnel about the killing of two leopards while standing around their bodies. A local resident said, "They attacked our cattle. This is why we killed them." "We did not net him as we were afraid he would attack us. So we gunned him down," he added.
https://twitter.com/ShirazHassan/status/1626452665113710595?s=20
This is not the first incident where wildlife has been lost at the hands of man.
Yesterday, three people were injured when a leopard owned by a resident broke free in Islamabad. According to news reports, the animal kept as a pet, allegedly by a former senior army official in the DHA neighborhood, managed to get out of the cage and jump in the street.
A video doing the rounds on social media showed the wildcat in a street before it jumped inside a private property and disappeared.
The footage showed the frightened residents and onlookers atop the houses surrounding the property.
Meanwhile, the city administration reports that the leopard has been imprisoned in the basement of a house, and residents have been asked to avoid the area.
The directives were issued as a lot of people gathered at the spot to make videos. Officials of the wildlife department, Rescue 1122, and security officials are at work to capture the animal.
The Islamabad Wildlife Management Board prepared a guideline for visitors to avoid leopard encounters and attacks in Margalla Hills National Park two months ago.
The protected area recently emerged as a biodiversity-rich zone, thriving with all of its species of birds, plants, animals, reptiles, and insect life.
It also became home to the endangered Asian leopards that would earlier descend from higher mountain regions in winter amid heavy snowfall.
The increased sightings of the wildcats were captured numerous times on camera, prompting the authorities to ensure that the public remains safe and the wildlife is preserved.