ISLAMABAD: The Minister Imran Khan on Sunday said rare wild species including snow leopard and Marco Polo sheep would be protected in the recently announced Himalayan national park. The prime minister on his twitter handle posted a short video clip of a brown bear moving in thickly covered snow terrain of the national park.

"The Himalayan Brown Bear in Pakistan's just announced Karakoram National Park. Other rare species that will be protected in this National Park will be the Snow Leopard and the magnificent Marco Polo sheep," the prime minister tweeted.

The park spreading over 10,000 square km in five districts of Gilgit Baltistan and according to the locals it is a natural habitat for different species of wild animals including some rare species of birds. Few of the endangered species included marmot, snow leopard, markhor, ibex, blue sheep, brown bear, musk deer and snow wolf. The central Karakoram National Park is the highest national park in the world and the largest protected area in Pakistan.