Friday, December 31, 2021

BAN LEG HOLD TRAPS
Rare leopard captured in northern Iraq

Issued on: 31/12/2021 

The big cat sustained a wound to its back leg when it was caught in a trap Ismael 

Dohuk (Iraq) (AFP) – An endangered leopard captured in Iraq's mountainous north had its hind leg amputated on Friday following a trap-inflicted wound, an AFP photographer said.

The Persian leopard, taken in a day earlier in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region near the border with Turkey, had injured two people, said Colonel Jamal Saado, head of the environmental protection police in Dohuk province.

Residents of a village near the town of Zakho lost around 20 sheep before realising a leopard was attacking their flocks, he said.

The big cat sustained a wound to its back leg when it was caught in a shepherd's trap, but managed to escape before villagers helped police track it down.

Saado said the leopard was given anaesthetic before it was captured.

"We had two or three similar cases in Arbil province" several years ago, he said, adding that an animal of the same subspecies had previously been found dead near a village in Dohuk province.

Persian leopards are a panther sub-species native to Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan and the Caucasus.

They are extremely rare and have been listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Fewer than 1,000 are believed to exist in the wild, with another 200 in captivity.

Veterinarian Soleiman Tamr, who conducted the amputation at Dohuk zoo on Friday, said the animal weighed around 90-100 kilogrammes (200-220 pounds).

"We will monitor it for a long time," said the vet, who also heads an animal protection society in Iraqi Kurdistan.

"If it can't be returned to the wild, it will live at the zoo," he said.

Rare Endangered Persian Panther Captured in Iraq

31 December 2021n
Duhok (Iraq) - A Persian panther, one of the subspecies of leopards native to western Asia, has been captured in northern Iraq, local media reported Friday.

Considered "endangered" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) with less than a thousand specimens in the world, this feline was captured in a mountainous region in Iraqi Kurdistan.

The animal, which is about five years old and weighs between 90 and 100 kilos, had to have a leg amputated after being injured by a trap set for its capture, according to Souleiman Tamr, a veterinarian at Dohuk Zoo.

The panther was being hunted by environmental protection authorities because it had allegedly killed about 20 sheep near Zakho in Iraqi Kurdistan, said Colonel Jamal Saado, head of the environmental protection police in Dohuk province.

A trap set by a shepherd injured the leopard, which managed to escape and wounded two villagers, he added, noting that the animal was eventually found by police with the help of villagers and was captured on Thursday.

"It was injured in the leg, we gave it two or three doses of anesthetics to capture it," Colonel Saado added.

Persian panthers are found in an area covering the Caucasus, Iran and Afghanistan among others.





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