Cheer pheasants return to sanctuaries in Kaghan valley

MANSEHRA: The endangered cheer pheasant (Catreus wallichii), which is one of the five exotics bird species found in the country, has come to its historic sanctuaries in Kaghan valley after a long period.

“The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Wildlife Department has finally succeeded to protect the cheer pheasant of a complete distinct as this endangered member of the Phasianidae family is seen occasionally in parts of Kaghan valley after decades of its absence,” Taimur Shah, the divisional wildlife officer, told reporters here on Saturday.

He said that there were around five dozen species of the pheasants in the world and five of them, including tragopan pheasant, monal pheasant, koklaas pheasant, kalij pheasant and Cheer pheasant were found in Pakistan. “The Cheer pheasant is one of the most endangered species in the Pakistani family and now its presence in Kaghan valley is occasionally witnessed and recorded by locals and wildlife department,” Shah said. He added that efforts were also made by the World Pheasant Association and the Capital Development Authority (Islamabad) to release the captive Cheer pheasants in the Margalla Hills National Park, but that re-introductory phenomenon couldn’t succeed because of the predation, rehabilitation, diseases and some other issues. The wildlife official said that the Cheer pheasant was missing from its historic sanctuaries in Kaghan valley for a long time because it was locally extinct from here.

“We, Wildlife department have effectively utilised our resources and controlled all sorts of poaching in the Kaghan valley as a result of which it started moving back to its natural habitat,” Shah said.

He said that because of the constant efforts being undertaken for a long period that vulnerable Cheer pheasant was sighted in Kanshian and other parts of the Balakot tehsil.