Pakistan’s leopard population is facing a real threat of extinction, as poaching and habitat loss are causing their numbers to dwindle. While populations are edging up in national parks and other protected areas, the vast majority of big cats do not live in these areas, and their population is believed to be falling fast after appearing to rise for several years in the late 2000s and early 2010s.
Interestingly, the rise was attributed to the militant insurgency across the ex-Fata regions and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Many areas from where locals fled after militants had taken control also happened to be the leopards’ habitat. Without villagers cutting down forests for firewood or shooting leopards to protect grazing livestock, the big cats flourished. But after peace was restored and people began returning to their homes, the leopards were seen as invasive pests, and have been hunted down since. While local wildlife authorities sometimes intervene and relocate the animals, limited manpower and lack of public awareness about conservation mean that officials often arrive too late to intervene. Another compounding factor is that even though farmers have a right to compensation for livestock under the Wildlife Act 2015, it is very hard to get the money.
But while farmers and villagers killing leopards to protect themselves and their property can at least be rationalised, there has also been an uptick in poaching, including an incident in Darra Adam Khel where two men killed leopard cubs and posted their pictures on social media. Unfortunately, the fines for poaching are relatively nominal – as little as Rs10,000. If we are to keep leopards from going extinct, we need to come up with more comprehensive conservation and awareness policies, while significantly increasing the penalties for poaching, such as adding a mandatory jail term and much higher fines.
Pakistan happens to be among the few countries in the world home to the leopard population, which has been listed as “vulnerable” by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. Unfortunately, however, the high prevalence of leopard killings and encroachments into their habitats means that for the upcoming generations, the wild cats will only exist in documentaries or textbooks.
Common leopards have been spotted in the mountainous areas of Tirah Valley, Shalman, Dara Adam Khel, and Bagh, in the aftermath of the insurgency in 2006 and 2007, when the departure of the local population to other areas, allowed the forests to grow denser, providing a favorable environment for the leopards to roam and hunt.
However, with people returning over the past decade, wildlife, particularly the common leopard, faces increasing threats as residents often shoot them upon entering populated areas. Lack of awareness in tribal areas about forest and wildlife conservation means people see no issue in killing the leopards.
According to the WWF, around 25 common leopards have been killed in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Azad Jammu and Kashmir during the past year. In one incident, a local from a tribal district of Khyber along with his friend, killed two common leopard cubs in Dara Adam Khel before posting pictures of the hunt on social media. Similarly, three were killed by tribal residents in Tirah Valley in 2024.
Later in September, a female common leopard was shot and injured by poachers in AJK and was left to die near a river. The Wildlife Department took her to the Islamabad Wildlife Center, where she succumbed to her injuries. The autopsy revealed that the leopard died from severe internal wounds caused by 12-bore shotgun pellets.
Mohammad Wasim, Member of the IUCN and Regional Head of the WWF revealed that common leopards used to be abundant in Pakistan, but their population is now critically endangered.
The main threats include human-wildlife conflict, poaching, habitat disturbance, and increasing human encroachment into forests. Currently, five common leopards are known to inhabit 20,000 acres of forest in the Ayubia National Park while evidence of 11 more has also been found in the 11,000-acre Galiyat forests, based on genetic research conducted between 2011 and 2013. However, there is no official national data to determine their exact population. The communities often kill leopards to protect their livestock and crops because they receive no compensation for their losses despite the Wildlife Act 2015 clearly stating that any loss to a community should be compensated.
Wasim’s concerns hold value considering the fact that following the FATA and K-P merger in 2018, the Wildlife Act 2015 applied to the tribal areas too however, it was rarely followed. Tariq Afghan, a Peshawar High Court advocate working on animal rights, believed that tribal people lacked awareness on the rights of animals. “Under the Wildlife Act, killing a snow leopard carries a minimum one-year prison sentence and a Rs30,000 fine, with a maximum penalty of three years. For harming a common leopard, the fine ranges from Rs10,000 to Rs45,000, with up to three years in prison. These penalties are too lenient, and offenders often pay a small fine and walk free,” said Afghan.
Common leopards are found in a wide range from plains to mountainous areas. Whenever leopards enter human settlements, they are either killed or captured and sent to zoos. Collecting population data is challenging due to the resources and time required. Encroachments are happening even in protected parks and forests, where leopards are supposed to be safe. Each leopard needs a range of around 100 square kilometers, and the Ayubia National Park is too small. Expanding these protected areas is essential for their survival, along with preserving their natural habitats and food sources.