PESHAWAR: Officials of the provincial wildlife department rescued an injured six-year-old grey wolf in Zait area of Upper Chitral district and brought it to a veterinary hospital for treatment.

An official said on Saturday that the divisional forest officer (wildlife) along with field staff headed to Shandur where they found an injured wolf in Zait. The wild species was shifted to the government-run veterinary hospital for treatment on Thursday, he added. The animal is the property of the provincial wildlife department.

Veterinarians performed the initial treatment of the wolf at civil veterinary hospital, Booni, and referred it to the pet clinic in Peshawar for specialised treatment. Officials said that the animal might have been hit by falling rocks or grazed by a vehicle.

According to the report submitted by civil veterinary hospital, the wolf’s eyeball was triggered to outside and minor surgery was performed to place it inside. Veterinarians also stitched up the upper and lower eyelid of the wolf and put it on drugs.

Grey wolf is found in northern mountainous regions, including Chitral, Gilgit-Baltistan, Upper Swat and Khunjrab National Park near China. Local communities consider wolf and other wild species, including common leopard, as destructive to their livestock.

Published in Dawn, November 3rd, 2019