Pakistan floods, fighting destroy wildlife
By Sajjad Tarakzai (AFP)
31 December 2010 KUND, Pakistan — Disaster struck out of nowhere. The flash floods were so sudden that wardens at one of Pakistan’s most famed parks could do nothing to save their animals. Leopards, deer and bears all drowned as the murky waters quickly engulfed them. Kund park, a tourist spot located where the Kabul and Indus rivers meet 100 kilometres (60 miles) northwest of Islamabad, lost all its wildlife including 100 endangered species in this year’s flood crisis. It was the worst single natural destruction of wildlife in Pakistan, where experts say the floods, military offensives against the Taliban and spreading militancy threaten natural habitats and species, some of them already endangered. “Floods destroyed everything. It killed all the animals and species in this park. It was a great loss to wildlife,” said Mumtaz Malik, formerly the top wildlife official in northwest Pakistan. “None of them were rescued. Nobody expected such a catastrophe.” Among the dead were two leopards, 70 deer and 24 bears, said Ayan-ud-din, one of the caretakers at Kund. Peacocks, ducks and pheasants were also lost. All the animals drowned while locked in cages and enclosures. The bears had been rescued from human cruelty, only to die in Pakistan’s worst natural disaster after monsoon rains swept north to south in July and August. … The state of wildlife receives little attention in Pakistan, the front line state in America’s war on Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. US drone attacks target militant commanders in the mountains of Pakistan’s northwestern tribal belt. Pakistan’s army and air force have battled homegrown Taliban foot soldiers for years, but militant groups have carved out sanctuaries in the mountains and valleys — all of which is affecting wildlife, experts say. “Bombing and shelling in Afghanistan and in the Pakistani tribal areas have disturbed the resident wildlife,” said Malik. Authorities say they have no access and are unable to enforce wildlife protection law in the semi-autonomous tribal belt, so instead they piece together details from local tribesmen and hunters. …
