Kannu Piraditta lovingly scratches the back of Raja – the lion – through the metal bars of his cage at the Karachi Zoo. The king of the jungle playfully rubs his back against the bars, before bowing his head to let Piraditta scratch behind the ears. “I look after the most ferocious animals at zoo,” […]
The Forest Magistrate Astore in Sept 2018 sentenced two persons to one year in jail and fined them Rs 300,000 each for killing a rare brown bear (Ursus arctos) in Minimarg area of Astore district recently. The bear was poisoned to death. According to a press release issued by the GB parks and wildlife department, […]
Q: What does your typical day at work look like? Maqsood: We receive snake supplies at the National Institute of Health (NIH), categorise them and make a schedule for extracting their venom, which can vary from once or twice a month for a snake. All snakes have seasonal variation, for example, you cannot extract venom when […]
A 16-foot-long python was rescued by Rescue 1122 officials from Khanpur Canal in Punjab’s Sheikhupura district in August 2018. The reptile was spotted in the canal with injuries on his head and upper jaw. Officials managed to rescue the serpent in a joint operation by Rescue 1122 and the provincial wildlife department. The python was […]
Wildlife experts have expressed concern over an alarming decline in the population of snow leopards in Pakistan, citing climate change and lack of eco-friendly tourism as the leading factors behind threats to the species. Wildlife ecology scholar Shoaib Hameed says that climate change was the biggest threat to survival of snow leopards and other rare […]
The endangered gray gorial are at the risk of being hunted into extinction from Margalla Hills, said a senior wildlife official. Besides gray gorial, poachers are also extensively hunting barking deer and wild boars to make illegal profits, said Islamabad Wildlife Management Board (IWBM) Deputy Director Mumtaz Alam Khan. Margalla Hills National Park (MHNP) forming […]
A black bear succumbed to its wounds owing to the negligence of wildlife officials. It was attacked and wounded by hunting dogs in Sheikhupura. According to Syed Naeem Abbas, a local witness, the incident took place on Dec 24 near Eserke village in Sheikhupura where hunters from various cities had arrived to hunt wild boars […]
A wildbear has been spotted in Chitta Batta Bugermung in Mansehra District in KP Province in late Dec 2018. The bear probably has come down in the populated areas due to cold weather in the mountains and in search of food. It is important that he should be rescued as quickly as possible before the […]
Representatives of an international organisation, Free the Wild, met with Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry and officers of relevant departments in Nov 2018 in Islamabad, saying that the INGO wants to help the government upgrade the Islamabad Zoo. Representatives of the organisation urged government officials to release the 33-year-old Asian elephant into an animal sanctuary. Chief […]
The business of catching snakes for their venom is on the rise, providing livelihood to a number of people who are ready to put their fear of the dangerous reptile aside in Pakistan. Snake catchers bring different species of the reptile from various cities in the Punjab and sell them to those who make medicines […]