Hunter chased, used modern shotgun to hunt rare leopardess

Islamabad:The initial evidences clearly showed that shooting of female leopard in Muzaffarabad was an act of organised crime by a professional hunter who reached there on motor vehicle with state-of-the-art gun.

According to a local person who personally visited the place where leopardess was attacked revealed that someone used a 12 Guage shotgun and a LG shot shell and it appeared that the big cat was shot when she was either fleeing from the hunter or was walking away on the path on the bank of the River Neelum.

Another local person said there were marks of tyres and blood of her and it seems that they were following her and she even fought with the hunter for her survival. He said, “Apparently we can say that when leopardess fell down on the rocks after the shooting then the hunter immediately fled from the scene.”

“A tiger and a bear were also hunted in this area in the near past that showed that a criminal gang has been active here for last many months,” he said. Tooba Javed said, “The leopard mother hides her cubs and shifts them from one safe spot to another until they are mature enough to play and learn to hunt and become solitary creatures.”

“A rare 4-year old female leopard that was at prime of her age was brutally killed by culprits. A dead female is a huge loss and if she had cubs then they are not likely to survive without their mother,” she said.

Islamabad Wildlife Management Board (IWMB) chairperson Rina S. Khan Satti said “The hunter in AJK used 12 Guage shotgun to hunt leopard for her skin/trophy. Pellets lodged in spine and neck area. She belonged to rare species of big cats that is considered ‘critically endangered’ in Pakistan.”