The arrival of
Snow Leopard in the vicinity of the villages Tooshi, and
Terich valley, at the base of Roshgol valley, is an age long
old phenomena where it announces its presence in December to
February, on and off, as the higher parts of the hills are
covered in deep snow and Snow Leopards know the route how to
navigate the slopes in winters to avoid avalanche sites. It
reports its arrival in the very cold season by its
deep-throated calls at night from certain ridges on its
route; during it’s up or down journey, staying at its
favorite spots for some days [usually they travel in twos]
and frightening children by its calls at nights.
Normally they don’t attack domestic animals but driven by
hunger for longer period, they attack goats outside the
villages. Mostly they get their food from the ibex flocks
after stalking carefully. Regarding humans their behavior is
very gentle.. they never attack humans even if they come
across on the mountain tracks and there does not exist any
such record of attack in the history of the region
The endangered
snow leopard, ['purdom' in Khowar language], visits the
Tooshi game reserve due to heavy snow and severe cold
weather. The beautiful wild cat is normally seen in the game
reserve mostly in winter as it comes there for at least four
days to one week. During this time he feasts on a wild goat
or two. Many local people and foreign tourists visit Tooshi
to have a glimpse of the snow leopard.
Markhor
Markhor are an
endangered species of wild goats whose range is mostly in
Chitral- Pakistan. The males have beautiful horns, which are
serpentile, shaped and can be very impressive.
Markhor are found throughout a number of areas within
Northern and Western Pakistan but populations are low and
localized. The only area where you are gauranteed to see
Markhor is Tooshi Gol Game Reserve in Chitral, which is
about 30 minutes north of Chitral town. In the late
afternoon until dusk, you will see Markhor descend the
slopes to drink water from the passing river. It is possible
to see upto 50 here and they seem in different to the
watching humans.
This playful
Markhor is friendly with people and sometimes keeps on
awaiting for visitors to turn up, who hold him by the
screwing big horns and play on the roadside at Tooshi, where
the worth of one trophy hunt is USD 52000 to 80000. In
winter the illusive snow leopard is also seen in the game
reserve as it comes down near the riverbank chasing wild
goats and Markhor.
Ibex
Ibex is found
in the higher altitudes vs Markhor. In the past ibex the
local hunters strictly followed hunting rules. Only good
size male were their targets. Females and kids were left to
grow and reproduce. Most valleys of Chitral were under state
control. There is a wild life Deptt: of the Govt: of
Pakistan tries to ensure the wild life population through
its staff of wild life watchers but their efforts to control
poaching is not very successful as the Number of the staff
is small and the region is too large. Each year they carry
out a census of the ibex population. Their habitats have
been badly damaged due to over population, over grazing etc.
Good size ibex are available for trophy hunting in various
places of upper Chitral. Udren Gol, Athak and Roshgol in
Terich valley are famous for ibex habitats of Hindukush.
