World Wide Fund for Nature-Pakistan (WWF-P) has reservations on the Model Wildlife Laws, recently proposed by the NWFP Wildlife Department that allow the hunting of common leopard under a special permit.
According to a WWF-P's spokesman here on Tuesday, under this law the common leopard is shifted from third schedule that totally prohibits the hunting of common leopard to first schedule that would allow the hunting under a special permit.
WWF-P feels that before taking an initiative, a comprehensive research needs to be carried out to avoid a disastrous damage to the common leopard population.
There are various other factors linked with this issue like community related problems that might worse if the hunting and trapping of the common leopard is allowed.
WWF-P Chief Technical Adviser Ashiq Ahmad Khan has proposed to allow the common leopard to stay in the Schedule 3 till its shifting to Schedule 1, as it is clearly suggested and proved by the scientific research on its population, density and behaviour.