A small civet cat strayed in the parliament building on Tuesday, causing damage in some offices and throwing the security staff off guard.
The sudden presence of a wild cat created chaos among the staff members as they were leaving their offices. According to eyewitnesses, the cat was seen roaming freely in the offices near the main national assembly house.
The CDA assisted the WildLife management staff in capturing the small cat from the building. They said this small animal is harmless and came from nearby Margalla Hills.
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Moreover, these uninvited ‘guests’ are not new in the parliament building. The lawmakers had a number of times registered their complaints about the presence of large rats in the parliament lodges [near the parliament house]. Interestingly, the proceedings of the Public Accounts Committee remained suspended for more than ten minutes by gnawing sound wires.
In 2013, the national assembly house witnessed an unusual scene when two sparrows entered during the proceedings and flew over and across the house. These sparrows, in search of a window to get out, were seen flying from one side to the other throughout the proceedings of the national assembly.
On February 16, 2023, 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.
The Islamabad Wildlife Management Board prepared a guideline for visitors to Margalla Hills National Park two months ago to avoid leopard encounters and attacks.
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.
In a more recent development, a rare leopard was trapped by the locals in Barghozi village in Upper Chitral.
The animal was caught by wildlife officials and later released into its natural habitat after some treatment.