A female leopard Shezadi has been spotted between Trail 4 and Trail 6 during the night time
Islamabad Wildlife Management Board (IWMB) announced that a female common leopard named Shezadi has been spotted a number of times recently at the Margalla Hills National Park in the last week through the camera traps set up. The leopard, one of the five individuals present in the park, resides mainly between trail 4 and trail 6 and avoids the area with human presence during the day time. IWMB has advised park goers against going to the trails at night.
IWMB Chairperson Rina Saeed Khan said that the leopards attack humans only in self-defense and an intentional attack is rare. It is best to avoid the park at the late hours of the night.
“From the areas that we have sampled using camera traps since 2019, we have identified at least 5 individual common leopards living within the boundaries of the Margalla Hills National Park,” said Khan. “Shezadi is now familiar with the trails that humans take and avoids them during the day. Most attacks by leopards on humans are in self defense – intentional attacks are rare”.
An endangered species
The common leopard is a critically endangered species and the top predator of the park. Leopards are very territorial and a leopard that knows his or her territory (usually marked by him/her over 50 square km) is much safer than a new leopard that will move in to claim the dead leopard’s territory according to wildlife experts.
Shezadi has been living inside the park in the territory she has marked and now patrols, as a permanent resident since at least last year. She was last filmed on January 31th 2021. Her rosetta pattern has been identified to be the same one as of a leopard caught on a camera trap in June 2020.
Ecosystem is in good health
According to the Special Advisor to the PM on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam, the presence of Shezadi and the other leopards inside Margalla Hills National Park is an indicator of the good health of its ecosystem. “Leopards keep a control on the population of wild herbivores like wild boars, which is important to the health of the forest as herbivores can easily overgraze and that can affect forest regeneration and growth,” he said. “The common leopard is actually not so common anymore and Islamabad’s citizens can feel a sense of pride in that these endangered animals have taken up permanent residence next to a busy city in the protected Margallah Hills”.
Aslam said there is the wide availability of natural prey for the leopards inside the Margallah Hills, which also provide a safe refuge for breeding purposes. He added that it is illegal to hunt the leopards or harm them in any way. “People visiting MHNP or living inside the park have to respect nature and live in co-existence with the rich wildlife found there”.