Ada Yasir Mir was walking in her family s garden near the city of Srinagar when the leopard dragged her away on Thursday - leaving behind only a doll she had been carrying.
Markhor struggles to survive in Kashmir as its Hirapora habitat is overgrazed, fragmented by roads and power lines
By Mudassir Kuloo
Abdul Hamid Bhat, 58, of Shopian district in Kashmir, vividly remembers the days he could easily sight a herd of Markhor in the nearby Hirapora Wildlife Sanctuary. But he has not seen any of the famous mountain goats in the last two decades. Surveys by the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) say the Markhor population in Hirapora has fallen from 70 in 2004 to 30-35 now.
“The construction of the Mughal Road and overgrazing by [the sheep and goat flocks of] nomad Bakarwals are the main reasons for decline of Markhor here,” Bhat says. “Authorities have also laid a power transmission line for which a lot of trees were cut, which also disturbed the habitat of animals including Markhor.”