Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad Wildlife Management Board (IWMB) has issued detailed guidelines about preventing leopard encounters and attacks in the naturally beautiful and wildlife-rich Margalla Hills for visitors, hikers, tourists, and local citizens with a focus on women and children for visiting Margalla Hills, National Park, and trails of Margalla Hills situated in Islamabad, capital of Pakistan.
The protected area of Margalla Hills National Park has developed into a distinctive, biodiverse nature preserve area that is teeming with all of its varieties of birds, plants, animals, reptiles, and insects.
The endangered common Asian leopard species, which formerly descended from higher mountain regions in the wintertime under heavy snowfall, had also made Margalla Hills of Islamabad their home.
Increasing leopard patrols in Margalla Hills National Park
The endangered Asian leopards also known as Islamabad’s big cat have increased their patrols in Margalla Hills of Islamabad, even during the day time leopards have been captured by IWMB video cameras, which has raised alarm bells for the relevant authorities to ensure mass mobilization and awareness raising to regulate public movement and animals in the Margalla Hills and National Park of Islamabad.
IWMB and Leopards of Islamabad Margalla Hills
Dr. Z.B. Mirza, a senior member of the Islamabad Wildlife Management Board, has developed a unique education and awareness manual for locals, tourists, and visitors for entering the National Park.
According to Dr. Mirza, there has never been a confrontation reported between people and animals in Margalla Hills National Park as there is an adequate supply of prey for big cats to hunt in their natural habitat.
In the Margalla Hills of Pakistan’s capital Islamabad, the leopard serves as the top predator in the national park and leads the food chain, the leopards eat over 62 different species of wildlife.
Due to its nocturnal nature, the Asian Leopard patrols mostly while feeding on barking deer, porcupines, wild boars, pastoral animals, donkeys, monkeys, birds, kalij, pheasants, and others. Leopards are usually active at night or in the early morning hours to predate or hunt.
IWMB Guidelines Regarding Leopards of Margalla Hills
IWMB said that tourists, locals, and people should avoid going into the jungle or forest during the early morning or night hours because the leopards are active at these times, in their natural habitat of Margalla Hills and National Park of Margalla Hills Islamabad.
Residents of the area should keep a tube light or bulb lit at night, lock up their livestock, particularly goats, and keep someone with them if they are raising livestock in the woods. While women should travel in groups to gather fuelwood, it is best to prevent children and women from entering the jungle on their own. Women are cautioned about going into the jungle to gather firewood.
Detail safety guidelines for Margalla Hills leopards
Additionally, everyone in the forest should speak loudly, and if there is a group, one person should be assigned to watch the area. People entering woodlands should have a club with them and speak loudly the entire time they are there, especially in the early morning and late evening.
It is crucial for anyone who comes into contact with a leopard in the wild to maintain their composure and patience rather than screaming and fleeing in terror because doing so will make them appear to be the leopard’s prey. Instead of moving forward, the person took a step back and slowly walked away.
If someone hears the roaring of a leopard, they should stop from encroaching further into the jungle.
Additionally, if a mother leopard and her cubs are seen, that region must be avoided when approaching or passing through. If a person comes very close to a leopard, they should clap with both hands and move their arms or shawl to demonstrate that they are larger than the wildcat.
A human can become a susceptible target before a leopard while defecating in the open in the wild due to his or her hunched position. As a result, one must put someone on guard and refrain from going outside at night to urinate.
Foreign tourists visiting the Margalla Hills
Safwan Ahmed, vice president of the Pakistan Wildlife Foundation, had earlier informed APP that knowledgeable tour operators, and foreign tourists are visiting the Leopard region in Margalla Hills of Islamabad.
The tourists have also been directed by IWMB to visit secure areas or zones in the forests as IWMB has fitted transmitters to track their real-time location in Margalla Hills and Margalla Hills National Park.
In the Margalla Hills National Park, there had never been a population record of leopards, but recent research revealed a substantial population of big cats that needed to be carefully controlled towards leopard zones to prevent leopards’ entrance into the human zone to avoid a human-wildlife clash.
