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Indian troops causing

extinction of leopards

in occupied Kashmir

ISLAMABAD: The large scale activities of over 700,000 Indian troops in the occupied Kashmir have wreaked the natural environment in the valley, threatening the extinction of rare species of snow leopards.

"The elusive snow leopards are on the verge of extinction in the occupied Kashmir because their main diet-deer-are an easy prey for the Indian forces," says General Information Service Academy Director Muzaffar Abbas, quoting several studies by the National Geographic, Nature and Discovery.

The beautiful leopards that lives in the mountain steppes and pine forest scrub at high altitudes from 5,900-18,000 feet in the winter and moves to meadows and rocky areas during the summer months, is already among the most endangered species.

The solitary animal lives in the high mountains of Central Asia, specifically, the Himalayas, Altai and Hindu Kush and has a broad home range covering about 100 square miles because of the lack of abundant prey that includes wild sheep, wild boar, gazelles, hares, markhor, bobak, tahr, marmots, mice and deer.

The snow leopards are extremely rare in most of their range because of the demand for skins. Although trade in snow leopard furs is illegal, it continues.

An estimated 3,000 to 10,000 snow lepoards are left in the wild, and about 370 are in captivity.

Besides, the Indian armed forces ruthlessly chop down trees for use as fuel, causing de-forestation in the once "Paradise on Earth."

Then the occupying troops also use the wood of precious trees in building bunkers.

"They would not think whether the tree, they are chopping, is a walnut tree or a common tree-precious and beautiful trees are cut callously for use as wood for bunkers," Muzaffar says.

Yet another seamy side of Indian troops anti-environment activities is the wasteful use of water.

"The Indian troops use huge amounts of water for washing their vehicles and recently the water level in the once-charming Dal Lake had gone so low that it almost look shrunk," Muzaffar says quoting a recent report of the Time magazine.ÑAPP