ISLAMABAD: Two rescued rare leopard cats were released in the Margalla Hills on Sunday.

The leopard cats had been on sale online for Rs200,000, said Islamabad Wildlife Management Board (IWMB) Chairperson Rina Saeed Khan. They were brought to Islamabad by road last week and quarantined to ascertain if they would be able to survive in the wild, she said.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam also joined the IWMB staff in releasing the cats on Trail 6 in the newly-established leopard preserve area where they disappeared into the bushes instantly. The cats have the same markings as leopards but are the size of house cats.

“We learnt that the cats were captured from the wild near Islamabad. The Margalla Hills National Park is their turf. Leopard cats are indigenous to the Himalayas and can be found from Neelum Valley all the way down to the foothills of the Margalla Hills,” Ms Khan said.

The leopard preserve area was a safe zone, she said, explaining that “these cats do not come into conflict with leopards; they are shy and hunt for little prey like rodents, Khaleej pheasants and hare”.

The rare cats were rescued with the help of citizens of Karachi who saw the advertisement and reported it to the authorities.

“This is what we are telling people that wildlife belongs in the wild. We need the help of citizens to crack down on illegal trade of wild animals,” she said, adding that bears are still being caught.

She pointed out that ever since the Capital Development Authority and IWMB took possession of the Monal Restaurant on the Margalla Hills and sealed it following the Islamabad High Court’s orders, wildlife seemed to have reclaimed the winding road into the hills.

“Traffic and smoke emissions have almost halved and more cyclists and actual nature lovers are going up now, as monkeys and jackals return especially after dark,” Ms Khan said, adding that animals that were once scared of loud music have been returning to the mountain top.

The IWMB chairperson said the Pakistan Environment Protection Authority (Pak-EPA) would soon be serving notices on other restaurants that were dumping sewage into the protected area.

Published in Dawn, February 14th, 2022