Rare snow leopard goes on a deadly rampage in rural Afghanistan

A snow leopard that has reportedly killed dozens of domestic animals will be released after being captured by Afghan authorities. Photo: OMER ABRAR/AFP via Getty Images

Afghan authorities who captured a rare snow leopard in the country's mountainous northeast are preparing to release it back into the wild after it reportedly killed dozens of animals, a conservation authority said Sunday. group.

The critically endangered animal was captured on Thursday evening after it became trapped in a cattle pen in the rural Zebak district of Badakhshan province, killing about 30 animals, the district's deputy governor, Abdulrahman Kasra, told AFP.

The young leopard was transported. it was sent to Faizabad, the provincial capital, and kept in the governor's compound, he added.

The head of the Wildlife Conservation Society office in Badakhshan said a veterinarian was treating the leopard with a minor leg injury and it would be released back to wildlife.

“The authorities promised us that they would soon release the leopard back into the Zebak area,” Good Sahel told AFP.

Young snow leopard kept at the home of the Zebak district governor in Faizabad Photo: OMER ABRAR/AFP via Getty Images

Mountainous northeast Afghanistan is one of the few habitats of the elusive leopards, nicknamed the «ghosts of the mountains».

They are listed as a «vulnerable» species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and their numbers are declining as a result of the effects of climate change, loss of habitat and poaching.

Experts warn that warmer temperatures could speed up tree lines getting higher, prompting farmers to travel further into the mountains to plant crops and graze livestock, encroaching on snow leopard territory.

Badakhshan has seen a similar incident in the past year when 40 domestic animals were reportedly killed by snow leopards.

The farmer whose animals were killed on Thursday said he had sought government support after losing his only source of income.

“The animals were the only asset he had I had to support. my family,» said Ganji Baig.

Other Zebak residents told AFP they want authorities to follow through with the plan to free the leopard.

«I hope the Islamic Emirate will do its job » do everything possible to protect Badakhshan's wildlife so that its natural heritage is protected and the snow leopard does not disappear from the province,” resident Mir Said told AFP.