10 square kilometre area to be designated for leopards

Islamabad : The government has decided to designate an area measuring ten square kilometres as Leopard Reserve in the Margalla Hills National Park (MHNP).

According to the details, Prime Minister Imran Khan has recently approved the summary sent by the climate change ministry to establish Leopard Reserve in the national park.

The ministry held discussions to implement this decision and now it has decided to designate a 10 sq km area for Leopard Reserve to increase the leopard population in the coming years.

The Islamabad Wildlife Management Board (IWMB) will have an important role in the implementation of this decision as it is main custodian of the area falling in the national park.

An official informed that the official order would be issued soon to designate the area for the Leopard Reserve in line with the directions of Prime Minister Imran Khan.

“It is more important to ensure complete stability in the natural habitats in the Leopard Reserve and all relevant departments will have to play their due role in this respect,” he said.

He said “We know when leopards lost food resources and witnessed the destruction of their habitats due to human interventions in the past decades they left this area for some other destinations. This should not happen again if we want them to stay in the Margallah hills.”

The spokesman of the climate change ministry said they had sent the summary to the prime minister for the establishment of Leopard Reserve in the federal capital. “This green capital will have a unique feature because the Leopard Reserve will be just a few kilometers away from the residential areas,” he said. The IWMB chairperson said the leopard population according to the latest data is seven in the national park and they are making efforts to increase it by restoring their natural habitats.