CHITRAL: Once frequently sighted, the snow leopard has very rarely been spotted over the last decade in the low altitude forest areas of both Lower and Upper Chitral during winter season.

Jameegh Sherazi, regional programme manager of Snow Foundation, confirmed to Dawn that the wildcat was conspicuous by its absence in Chitral situated in the foothills of Hindukush system of mountains bordering Afghanistan.

He said that though the animal was cryptic and shied away from the human settlements, it was forced to descend to the lower altitudes in search of food when its habitat in the higher altitudes was covered with snow.

Mr Sherazi recalled that only 15 to 20 years ago, the passengers used to see it from a very close range in Toshi-Shasha conservancy throughout the month of February where it resided on the other side of the river.

He said that though this year, forests had received heavy snow in January and February, the gigantic wildcat was yet to be spotted anywhere in both parts of Chitral except in Gobor of Lot Koh valley where trophy hunters of ibex reportedly came across it.

He said that the range of habitat of snow leopard was quite immense, which extended to the Nooristan and Badakhshan areas of Afghanistan, thereby implying that it had gone on a sojourn across the border.

Mr Sherazi said that in the 1990s, an international research organisation had monitored the movement of the snow leopard on satellite, which had tied radio collar to its neck and confirmed its trans-border movement many times during a year.

Regarding the population of the wildcat, Mr Sherazi said that due to its enormous habitat, its population density was the lowest of all wild animals and its strength oscillated between 10 to 15 in the Hindukush belt habitat.

He said that in Upper Chitral, it had reportedly been spotted in Bashqar Gol area of Laspur valley, but it had not been tested and confirmed by this organisation as per its standard methods.

“A great degree of familiarity exists between the local people and the snow leopard since the time immemorial, which can be gauged from the fact that the local folk literature and poetry is teeming with its description in different connotations, while men are still named after it as Purdum (snow leopard) Khan,” Mr Sherazi noted.

“It is natural that the local people are feeling nostalgic to see this magnificent wild animal, which has mysteriously disappeared from its environs,” said the Snow Foundation official.

Rizwanullah Yousufzai, divisional forest officer of Chitral Gol National Park Wildlife Division, said that the national park used to be its favourite habitat due to the high population density of Kashmir Markhor, but it had not been spotted there for the last 15 years.

He cited climate change as one of the major reasons of its disappearance from the scene, and it was an alarming situation for a conservationist to lose this iconic wild animal from its environment.

Published in Dawn, March 7th, 2025