Conservationists express concern over threat to predators, scavengers
GILGIT: Conservationists in Northern Areas yesterday expressed concern about the threat predating and scavenging animals face from human vengefulness when livestock owners poison the carcasses of killed animals to punish the predators. Carnivores play a critical role in the ecosystem. They remove sick and injured animals through predation, scavenge to remove disease-carrying dead carcasses, and eat species (such as rodents) that can negatively affect people’s livelihoods through damage to crops and as vectors of disease. Large carnivores such as the snow leopard are also cultural icons in Pakistan, and are a part of the country’s natural and cultural heritage and should be preserved in their own right. Recently in Gais Goharabad, a remote valley in Diamer District, unknown predators attacked live stock, killing and injuring a number of domestic animals. This resulted in heavy losses to the marginalised communities who are solely dependent on livestock rearing. A community-based Wildlife Conservation and Social Development Organization (WCSDO-G) Gais has reported that in response to the attack on livestock the local poor shepherds poisoned the remnants of the killed animals. This method of retaliation to predators results in poisoning of a number of other, non-target fauna species, including other predators and scavengers in the region, including vultures, crows, eagles, wild cats, foxes, etc. In order to address this human-predator conflict the Mountain Conservation and Development Programme (MCDP) chairman, Jamil Ahmed and Programme Manager Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), Mayoor Khan, called to educate herdsmen about the dangers of this practice. They have made recommendations as both organisations are jointly working on natural resources conservation and its sensible utilisation in the Gilgit-Baltistan specifically in Diamer and Gilgit districts.
Source: The paninsula,Qatar’s leading news daily
