A critically injured female leopard, approximately two years old, was rescued by wildlife officials from a water channel in the Haveli district of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and is currently receiving treatment at the Islamabad Wildlife Management Board (IWMB) rescue centre. The leopard was discovered early in the morning by local villagers near Bitar Nullah, prompting immediate action from the AJK Wildlife and Fisheries Department.
The leopard, unable to move her hind legs, showed no visible external injuries, leading wildlife guards to suspect internal trauma. Upon examination at the IWMB rescue centre, X-rays revealed that the animal had been shot with a 12-bore shotgun, and four bullets were lodged inside her body, with one near her heart and vertebrae. A vet successfully removed one bullet, but the leopard remains in critical condition, with further treatment ongoing.
Naeem Iftikhar Dar, head of the AJK Wildlife and Fisheries Department, acknowledged the limitations faced by the local wildlife team, who lacked proper equipment to rescue and transport the leopard. Despite these challenges, they managed to capture and move the animal using traditional methods, later handing it over to the more equipped IWMB team.
The AJK Wildlife Department has begun investigating the incident, with plans to file an FIR against unknown culprits. Officials stress the need for better protection of common leopards, whose survival is increasingly at risk due to human-wildlife conflicts in the region.
This is not the first such incident in AJK. In July, another leopard was rescued from a tree in Muzaffarabad, sustaining injuries to its tail. After receiving treatment at the IWMB centre, that leopard was successfully released back into its natural habitat in August. Wildlife experts hope this case will shed light on the need for more modern equipment to handle such wildlife emergencies in remote areas of AJK.
