Re: Indian leopard that strayed in to Pak territory,shot dead
As Sarab said it’s just a leopard. I would like to add that Leopards have no country or any idea of human borders. Leopards are opurtunistic predators and thier loss of natural habbitat has led them to seek easy prey on livestock. They are powerfull big cats however and the Indian plains Leopards are more naturally suited to forests. Sindh obviously lacks the sort of terrian that we would associate as classic Leopard territory however they make good use of the sparse cover to feed on both wild and domestic goats.
The real tragedy is that the poor Leopard was doomed since the days humans cleared the forest which were it’s natural habbitats. As Sarab said the villagers had very little choice given the fact a non-native species was in the area and had become a threat to them…
In India the plains Leopards territory is dwindling and the Mountain Leopards have been long since pushed to extinction. In Pakistan the Plains Leopard and the Mountain Leopard are both protected species but the homeland of the Pakistani Leopards is also dwindling.
Good news is when I was last in Chitral I was among the lucky people who got a glimpse of the Mountain Leopard and the population is stabilisng in Chitral due to it’s remoteness. Popular culture in both countries often overlooks the Leopard but as a creature it is amazing. ![]()
A Leopard has the strength equivalent of one of us picking up a meal as big as our own body size and carrying it up to 50ft into a tree… that takes real power. You would not want to face a Leopard alone… I feel sorry for the Villagers and the Leopards. Both countries need to work together in conserving our animals and protecting them and our people. ![]()
As far as the Leopard was concerned it was not Indian or Pakistani it was simple a Leopard… of the Plains type.