A female snow leopard aged ~5 years was found injured and paralysed by locals in Arkari Rabat, 60km from the northern Pakistani town of Chitral. After receiving first aid in a local veterinary facility in Chitral, the animal was transported to Peshawar Zoo on the 27th of February. According to the zoo the animal has received multiple injuries to the head, spine and hind limbs but no major fractures were detected. The zoo previously had a female snow leopard in their collection which died because of a blocked vein that went undetected due to incomplete medical facilities on site. This comes after successful rehabilitation and releases of a grey wolf (also from Chitral) and striped hyeana (from Dera Ismail Khan) by the zoo. All black bears are also rescued/confiscated animals; a male transferred from Lalazar wildlife park caught as a cub by villagers in the Kaghan valley and later taken up by the wildlife department, another male(?) that was a former performing bear but has shown significant improvement in behavior since it has joined the collection, a male cub confiscated from smugglers in the Dir region after being snuck in from Afghanistan and 2 cubs confiscated at Torkham also after being smuggled in from Afghanistan. Not surprisingly none of these have been reported by the local media.
How likely is it that the snow leopard female will make a full recovery? Has there been contact with the Snow Leopard Trust?
SLF would be aware since they work closely with local wildlife departments. Prognosis on the first day wasn't good at all but since the animal's still alive maybe it's responding well to treatment. I'll try to visit the zoo soon as I can to know what's going on.
Thanks @J I N X, would love to know. BTW: I appreciate you bringing us news of Pakistan's zoos and wildlife. I encourage you to be as active in this as humanely possible as nothing much apart from more sensationalist passes through.
