Leopard injures four people in Parachinar

PARACHINAR: A leopard on Sunday injured four people in Parachinar, the headquarters of Kurram tribal district, as the ill-equipped officials of the Wildlife Department tried to capture the wildcat.

The wildcat attacked two people at the Sabzi Mandi in Parachinar city in the morning and since then the officials of the Wildlife Department, who arrived at the scene to capture the wildcat, made unsuccessful attempts throughout the day to get hold of the animal. The attack triggered a scare at the Sabzi Mandi and the people started running here and there in panic.

The two injured people were taken to the District Headquarters Hospital in Parachinar. Two rescue officials were also injured in the efforts to catch the wildcat. Munsif Ali, an official of the local Wildlife Department, told reporters that they were making efforts to capture the leopard hiding at a godown in the vegetable market.

This was the first incident of its kind in Parachinar, where the wildlife officials are not equipped to cope with such an eventuality. So, a team of the Wildlife Department had arrived in Parachinar from Peshawar and they were making efforts to capture the leopard.

A lot of local people, including schoolchildren, thronged the vegetable market to catch aglimpse of the wildcat. The police and the wildlife officials asked the people not to go near the wildcat and avoid visiting the place as this could scare the animal.