Leopards grow in Margalla Hills

Islamabad : With the leopard population thriving in Margalla Hills National Park (MHNP) the hikers must now strictly follow the directives and avoid going away from designated tracks and routes.

According to the details, new video footage obtained from one of the cameras installed at various locations of the Margalla hills showed a leopard roaming around a pond of water near designated Trail V. It clearly shows that leopards are now claiming their areas and enhancing their natural habitat. The leopard families have again made the national park their permanent habitat and their number is also expected to grow in the coming years.

The establishment of the Leopard Preservation Zone was one of the important measures taken in the last few years to make the national park a safe natural habitat for wildlife species, especially leopards. It is pertinent to mention here that the increasing human intervention, construction activities, and cutting of trees had forced leopards and other wildlife species to leave national parks for other destinations.

The lockdowns imposed time and again after the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic provided wildlife species a cordial environment due to which they started returning back to their previous habitats in the national park. The boundary of the Leopard Preservation Zone touches some sides of the forest areas that are quite close to designated hiking trails such as Trail V and Trail VI. The guided tours are arranged for the visitors in forest areas to make them aware of the protection of the natural habitat of the leopards that have now become the permanent residents of the national park after so many years.

The visitors should now observe precautionary measures and never go away from the designated routes and tracks to avoid any untoward incident.