Rare striped hyena rescued in DI Khan

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The DI Khan police have rescued an endangered striped hyena, which was captured by some locals to take part in a dog fight, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa MPA Faisal Amin Khan has shared. The hyena, which has been identified as a female, has been sent to Peshawar for treatment before it can be released back into the wild.

Striped hyena rescued in DIKHAN has reached Peshawar where vets are taking care of it till he gets fit 4 release tnx u Umair @dcdikhan Wahid Mehmood DPO DIK, AC Darazinda, DFO Wildlife & his team, all involved for highlighting it & savings it's life @ImranKhanPTI @aminattock https://t.co/q58GTOM9FH pic.twitter.com/kqE8pkNrn5

— Faisal Amin Khan (@FaisalAminKhan) May 30, 2020

Khan also shared that hyena was being cared for and that Chief Conservator Wildlife KP is “personally taking care” of the injured animal.

He has open/soil surface outside but being kept here for a couple of days for easier handling/dressing wounds, Mohsin Sb Chief Conservator Wildlife KP is personally taking care of it

— Faisal Amin Khan (@FaisalAminKhan) May 30, 2020

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According to Deputy Commissioner DI Khan’s official Twitter account, the hyena was caught by some tribal locals and their hunting dogs.

اسسٹنٹ کمشنر ردازندہ، محکمہ وائلڈ لائف ڈیرہ اور ضلعی پولیس ڈیرہ کی بروقت کاروائی، قبائلی تحصیل درازندہ کے علاقہ کھوئی بہارہ میں کوہی پیور کے مقام پر مقامی افراد اور ان کے شکاری کتوں کے ہتھے چڑھ جانے والے جنگلی جانور ''لگڑ بگڑ'' کو بازیاب کرواکر علاج معالجے کے لئے پشاور بھیج دیا۔ pic.twitter.com/JoJ3iNJJFE

— Deputy Commissioner DIKhan (@dcdikhan) May 30, 2020

From the limited details available, it can be understood that the animal had been captured by the locals to take part in a dog fight.

The whole village had gathered for the dog fight, only 5/6 policemen & wildlife staff was there, it's an extremely secluded corner bordering Balochistan so saving the animal was priority one, will get culprits eventually

— Faisal Amin Khan (@FaisalAminKhan) May 30, 2020

Sir the whole village was there dog fight was about to start, give credit to Police, Levies & Wildlife staff who risked their lives being only 5 or 6 in number & still saved the animal, it's easy to tap on keyboards than actually risking ur skin for a cause

— Faisal Amin Khan (@FaisalAminKhan) May 30, 2020

The matter of the captive hyena had come to light after a Twitter account dedicated to saving Pakistan’s wildlife “from the threats of hunting, loss of habitat and pesticides” raised alarm and shared videos of people capturing the hyena. Sharing the location of the incident, they had urged the authorities to take swift action and rescue the animal.

Meanwhile, conservationist Javed Mahar shared some characteristics of the rare animal, called lagar bagar in the local language, and said that they are mostly found in Sindh along the Kirthar National Park.

Stripped hyenas prefer scavenging rather than hunting The perception of community
(i) it is killer
(ii) ride of witch (ڏائڻ جي سواري)
is absolutely wrong. They r beautiful creatures &companions of evolutionary survival process They r found in Sindh along Khirthar National Park https://t.co/ZcOz9NNwdf

— Javed Mahar (@JavedMahar7) May 30, 2020