Villager claims snow leopard killed his 18 goats
DROSH: A man in Beori village near Drosh on Friday claimed that a snow leopard went berserk after entering his pen and killed 18 goats on Thursday night, reported Jahan Zeb.
Four goats were also injured, according to Akram Jan, the owner of the house. But it might be a lynx attack as snow leopard never goes on such a rampage. Some years ago 18 goats were found killed in Bilphok village of Lotkoh in a similar way. The locals at that time said a group of lynx attacked the animals.
Of late, environmentalists have expressed concerns over disappearance of snow leoprd in Chitral.
Despite heavy snowfall in the mountains this year no snow leopard could be spotted in the lower altitude areas, including Chitral Gol National Park, Shafiqullah Khan, the project manager of Pakistan Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Protection Programme, had said.
According to him, the wild animal had last been spotted five years ago in Chitral forests.
Snow leopard just kills one animal at a time and takes it to a safe place eats it and buries the leftovers in snow or rocks.
It does not kill like this.
Snow leopard belongs to cat family like tiger and lion. It eats what it kills and does not leave its prey as injured or lavishly killed like those of several animals at a time. It kills by suffocating an animal and eats according to its diet and none more. Hyena and wolf kills or injures animals like this.
On the remarks of the owner, it is difficult to reach to any conclusion or let say can make an assumption as well. Without assessing the pug marks or fir that matter a scent sprayed from any of the cliff as an indication of establishing home range, after having confirmed the presence of Snow leopard in the southern part of Chitral this particular year or of its seasonal and sporadic visit in the past two to three consecutive years can be helpful to establish the owner’s claim. Otherwise, it has been a myth in Chitral that Snow leopard killed cow, goat this and that