
In 2018, a wildlife patrol found a skull and claw at the top of Trail 6 in the Margallah Hills, just behind Faisal Mosque in Islamabad. The rest of the animal’s body had either decomposed or been scavenged, but some of the skin on the claw remained intact. On closer inspection, it was found to have the rosette patterns of a leopard. Analysis confirmed that the animal had been a fully grown adult and had died a natural death. Its skull was sent to the Pakistan Museum of Natural History, where it has been kept in a lab and away from public display ever since. What was a shy, secretive and highly territorial leopard doing out here in its old age? No one could say for sure. Nevertheless, the discovery completely changed what we know about big cats in the capital. British gazetteers say leopards were found in Swat, Dir and Murree and even the Kala Chitta range to Islamabad’s west, but they make no mention of sightings in the Margallahs. At most there are mentions of jackal, deer, monkey and boar (tigers became ext...