CHITRAL — A rare snow leopard was found dead in the remote pasturelands of Wakht village in the Garam Chashma valley, prompting concern among wildlife officials and conservationists, authorities said Tuesday.
Officials from the Wildlife Department and the Snow Leopard Foundation said villagers reported the carcass earlier in the day. A team was dispatched to the site, where the animal was found frozen, indicating it had died several hours before being discovered.
Deputy Ranger Shafiq Ahmed said the body would be shifted to a veterinary hospital for a postmortem examination to determine the cause of death. “The body was frozen, which suggests the death occurred some time earlier,” he said.
Jamigh Sherazi, regional program manager at the Snow Leopard Foundation, said the animal had been sighted in the Wakht, Munoor and Beghusht areas over the past two months, marking the first confirmed presence in the region in more than a decade.
Officials said heavy snowfall at higher altitudes likely forced the endangered predator toward lower areas, increasing the risk of human-wildlife conflict. Local residents had earlier reported livestock losses, including goats.
An environmentalist, speaking on condition of anonymity, called for a transparent inquiry, saying the death might not have been natural. Snow leopards are classified as vulnerable globally and are protected under Pakistan’s wildlife laws.
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