Injured grey wolf shifted to Peshawar after initial treatment

PESHAWAR: An injured grey wolf of rare species was found in the Booni area of Upper Chitral which was shifted to Peshawar after an initial treatment there.

The residents of Booni area in Upper Chitral are stated to have spotted the injured grey wolf in the area. They informed the local administration as well as officials of the forest and wildlife departments. According to sources, the district administration brought the issue into the notice of Malakand Commissioner, Riaz Khan Mahsud, who directed the local officials to ensure that rare animal’s life was saved.

The wildlife department took possession of the animal, transported it to the veterinary centre and provided instant treatment. It was not clear as to how the grey wolf suffered injuries. Some local officials said it might have been either hit by the falling rocks or a vehicle.

“Actually, the local community had found and rescued it. They shifted it to wildlife office. On the directives of Malakand commissioner, the injured grey wolf was then brought to Chitral town for better care and treatment. Now its condition is better but requires further treatment and is being shifted to Peshawar for advanced treatment,” an official of the district administration told The News.

It was learnt that on October 31, the Divisional Forest Officer Wildlife Chitral along with SDFO Wildlife Chitral while heading to Shandur saw an injured grey wolf in Zait (Kalak).

“We initially examined the wolf and called the Range Officer Wildlife Booni to shift the wolf to veterinary hospital Booni. As the vehicle in the use of the DFO was not suitable to shift the injured wolf to veterinary hospital at Booni, the DFO instructed the wildlife staff at Booni to rescue the injured wolf and safely shift it to veterinary hospital at Booni.

“Later, the wolf was shifted to veterinary hospital Booni, where it was given first aid. The in-charge of veterinary hospital in Booni advised the wildlife department to shift the animal to Civil Veterinary Hospital Chitral for further treatment as necessary facility was lacking in Booni,” recalled the wildlife department official. The wolf was brought to civil veterinary Hospital Chitral where Dr. Sheikh Ahmad administered it first aid and asked for bringing it again in the morning for a complete treatment and procedures. On November 1, the Wildlife officials brought it again to hospital where procedures and treatment were carried out.

“Treatment and procedures were performed by veterinary officers at the Civil Veterinary Hospital Chitral. They included Dr Sheikh Ahmad, DrNiazuddin and other team members. The eye ball was operated upon as it had been dislocated. The upper and lower eyelids were stitched up,” explained the wildlife officer. This over six-year male wolf has now been referred to the pets clinic Peshawar for a specialised treatment.

According to Mohammad Altaf Ali Shah, Sub-divisional Forest Officer, Wildlife Chitral, there are two subspecies of the grey wolf in Pakistan.

In the northern mountainous regions is found the Tibetan Wolf (Canis Lupus Campestris). The Tibetan Wolf inhabits the barren rocky mountainous valleys of Baltistan, Gilgit, Hunza, Chitral, Upper Swat and Khunjerab National Park.

The Indian Wolf (Canis Lupus Pallipes) is found in the south of the country. It lives in the deserts of Cholistan and Thar. Further west, the wolf inhabits the lower hills of Balochistan where it is in a bigger number. Local people considered wolf destructive to the livestock. In Chitral, it is mostly considered to be a grave threat to the livestock by the grazer community and human and wolf conflicts is also high and people kill the animal in retaliation. There is a need to initiate community-based wolf - human conflicts mitigation to save this ecologically important species in this isolated part of Pakistan.