Quetta: Rare leopard pair spotted in Hazaraganji National Park
News Desk :
Officials of the Balochistan Wildlife Department have spotted a rare Persian leopard pair in the Hazarganji National Party, located in the South-West of Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province.
Six months back, the officials of the Wildlife came to know about the presence of rare Persian leopards. They launched searching and evolved a strategy to spot the leopards. “Leopards are found in Iran, Central Asian States and in Balochistan”, Dr Faiz Kakar, a well-known environmentalist and former chief of International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) told Quetta Voice.
Leopards spotted after hectic efforts
Hectic efforts by the wildlife officials bore fruit when suddenly they spotted a pair of leopards roaming in the rugged mountains of Koh e Chiltan. Chiltan is one of the four mountains surrounding Quetta city.
“Our people spent days and nights to spot leopards”, Sharifuddin Baloch, the conservator of wildlife Balochistan stated. Leopards have become rare around the globe. “The existence of leopards species is in danger and it is becoming extinct”, Dr Kakar mentioned. He informed that the IUCN has listed the leopards as an endangered species.
Video went viral on social media
Pictures and video obtained by BBC Urdu and AFP show the pair is roaming in the rugged mountains without any danger. The video has also gone viral on social media with thousands of people commenting on the existence of leopards.
The conservator wildlife however informed that the Balochistan forest department would approach the IUCN for the protection of this rare leopard paid in Hazarganji National Park. Persian leopards are panther sub-species native to Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan and the Caucasus.
