Wildcat kills 16 goats in Mansehra

MANSEHRA: A wildcat killed 16 goats in Sari Gamashi area of Siran valley on Wednesday.

“A team of the Wildlife Department rushed to the scene on my complaint and compiled a report of the attack,” Noor Hussain, a shepherd, told journalists in Jabori area on Wednesday.

He said the goats fastened at a cattle pen were attacked by a wildcat from a nearby mountain, killing as many as 16 of them, and the wild animal later managed to return back to its natural habitat.

He said that wildcat attacks were on the rise in the Siran valley and the Wildlife Department should adopt extra precautionary measures to protect humans and animals from their wrath.

Taimur Shah, the divisional forest officer, said that Darakshain Nadi Siran was the natural habitat of the wildcat.

“The area where the wildcat attacked the goats falls near the reserved forests considered as the natural habitat of the leopard species and it could be possible only in that area as there is no proper fencing and efficient dogs that could have prevented the attack,” he said.

The official said that his department was also carrying out awareness sessions with locals and visitors to prevent or minimise such attacks.