CONSERVATION OF ENDANGERED SPECIES IN KHYBER PAKTUN KHWAN
S. A. Shah
Wildlife, Kyber Pakhtun Khawan
Corresponding Author: Email: safdir@brain.net.pk
ABSTRACT
The Government of North West Frontier Province (Kyber Paktun Khawan) renamed Kyber Pakhtunkhwan in April 2010, attaches a high priority to the conservation of rich diversity of flora and fauna in the Province. In 1975, the Kyber Paktun Khawan Wildlife (Protection, Preservation, Conservation and Management) Act was promulgated to provide a legal framework for conservation efforts. The Kyber Paktun Khawan Wildlife Department is mandated to protect, preserve, conserve and manage the wildlife resources of the Province. The Province is a land of diverse physio-climatic factors. In a short stretch of 700 km from south to north, the Province exhibits an altitude of 174m asl in Dera Ismail Khan to 7,690 m asl at Tirichmir peak in Chitral. Similarly an extreme arid hot climate in Dera Ismail Khan desert with a mean annual rainfall of 230 mm and maximum summer temperature of 50oC is contrasted by arid cold conditions on northern high mountains peaks with perpetual snow and subzero temperatures. A great range of physical and climatic conditions has given rise to eleven major habitat types with over 100 species of mammals, over 456 species of birds, 46 species of reptiles and over 4000 species of plants (IUCN, 1996).
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