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Chitral District endowed a rich biodiversity

By Zahiruddin

CHITRAL: Chitral district is endowed with a rich biodiversity owing to the wide variation of altitudes, from 1094 meter in Arandu in the south to 7726 meters at Terichmir in the north, says a biodiversity specialist Mansoor Ali associated with an international organization. Talking to chitraltimes.com here on Wednesday, he said that due to its enormous size and its geographical occurrence, it serves an ideal habitat of inexhaustible list of flora and fauna. He said that as many as fifty species of mammals have been recorded in Chitral which accounts for about half of the mammals recorded in the province. Kashmir markhor, Himalayan ibex, Palla’s cat, stoat and wolf as well as two species of bats are found here including the endangered species of lynx, brown bear, common red fox, leopard cat, panther, snow leopard, musk deer and urial. Regarding bird species found in Chitral, he put them at 197 and mentioned the names of chukar (rock partridge), Himalayan snowcock, lemmergeier, monal pheasant and snow partridge as resident species. He said that Chitral also serves as a corridor for seasonal migration of birds to and from Central Asia. Mr. Ali said that a number of bird species have been marked as endangered which included scavenger vulture, Eurasian woodcock, snow pigeon, red-capped falcon and pallid harrier. He said that several species of waterfowl migrate along the Chitral River in the autumn and spring while a number of raptors and aquatic birds pass through the valley in the course of their migration between the breeding grounds in Siberia and central Asia and wintering areas in southern Pakistan and India. Mr. Ali added that out of the 42 reptile species recorded in the province, 28 are found in Chitral. He said that Himalayan pit viper, India krait, Indian monitor, Indian soft-shell turtle, Oxus cobra and 14 varieties of snake are found in Chitral. He said that eleven species of fish have been found in the waters of Chitral out of which nine are indigenous. Mr. Ali said that Chitral’s flora is similar to that of central Asia and 64 endemic plant species have been found here.