Parks and Wildlife

Parks and Wildlife Circle of
Gilgit Baltistan

The Parks and Wildlife circle functions under the Forest’s, Park’s, Wildlife and Environment Department of the Government of Gilgit-Baltistan. The circle is the line department which maintains custodian and management mandate for conservation of wildlife and its habitat to improve economic benefits locally, while improving ecological services globally. The aim is to focus on conservation of wildlife and habitat, in close collaboration with local communities, NGO’s, other concerned departments, and ministries. The department provides its legal, technical, and fianncial support to community-based institutions and other key partners for conducting research, conservation and sustainable management activities on the basis of availability of natural resources in the vicinity. The Parks and Wildlife circle, with the help of its key partner organizations, has successfully initiated and conducted trophy hunting programs in Gilgit-Baltistan, utilizing the revenue for the betterment of the local communities.

Protected Areas

Protected Areas Include; National Parks, Game Reserves, Wildlife sanctuaries, Community Managed Areas.

National Parks

Central Karakoram National Park

CKNP is the largest protected area of Pakistan spread across an area of 10, 557, 73 km2 in the Central Karakorum mountain range and boasts of containing the world’s largest glaciers outside the Polar Regions, along with being the highest National Park in the world.

Khujerab National Park

Khunjerab National Park is spread across an area of 2, 27,143 ha, and at an elevation of 17,000 ft within the Karakorum-West Tibetan biodiversity region, amidst the Karakorum Range Mountains on Pakistan-China border in Upper Hunza.

Deosai National Park

The natural haven lies across an area of 3, 58,400 ha in the South-east of Skardu in the Karakorum range, bordering India. At an elevation of 13,500ft above the sea-level, the Deosai plains boats of being one of the highest plateaus in the world.

Qurumber National Park

The Qurumbar valley (36°45’N, 74°45’E) is situated in the extreme north-western reaches of Gilgit Baltistan falls in the western Tibetan Plateau, Alpine Steppe Eco region of Pakistan. It was established in 2011and covers an area 73800hectares

Handrup National Park

Shandur-Handrup National Park (36°04′32″N 72°31′12″E) is located in Ghizer district. It was declared as national park in 1993 and covers an area of 51800 hectares.

Himalaya National Park

Himalaya National Park (34.788444N, 75.078121E) is recently notified on 2021 and is located in Astore district for protection and conservation of musk deer and other species. It covers an area of 226300 hectares.

Nanga Parbat National Park

Nanga Parbat National Park (35.16375N, 74.550860E) is recently notified in 2021 and the park is located in Diamer and Astore for protection and conservation of Ladakh Urial and other species.

Nazber Nullah (Ghizer Yasin)

Spread across an area of 334.1 Sq Km, the Nazber Nulluh in Yasin, Ghizer District is home to Ibex, Snow Leopard, Brown Bear, Wolf, Fox, and a few bird species.

CHASSI/BOLSTER (PHANDER)

Chassi Covering a land of 370 Sq Km, the game reserve provides to be the stamping ground for Ibex, Snow Leopard, Brown Bear, and Fox.

PAKORA (ISHKOMEN)

Pakora reserve in Ishkomen valley of the Ghizer district and spread across an area of 75 sq Km is the habitat for Snow Leopard, Ibex, Wolf, Fox, and a number of bird species.

ASKORE NULLUH (SKARDU)

Occupying 130 Sq Km of land, The Askore game reserve maintains the species of Ibex, Snow Leopard, Wolf, Fox, and a number of bird species.

KILIK-MINTIKA (GOJAL)

This Game Reserve lies along the border with China, east of the KKH and the Khunjerab National Park. It includes 65,000 hectares of important Marco Polo sheep habitat.

SATPARA (SKARDU)

The Satpara(Skardu) sanctuary is spread over 311 Sq Km of land and habituates Ibex, Musk deer, Snow Leopard, wolf, and a number of bird species.

NALTER (GILGIT)

Covers 272 sq km of the Naltar Valley to its juncture with the Hunza River, and is contiguous with the Pakora and Sherqila Game Reserves.

Wildlife

Amidst the mighty mountains of Gilgit-Baltistan reside magnificent species of wildlife such as Ibex, Markhor, and Snow Leopard.

Astore Markhor

The markhor (Capra falconeri) is one of the largest and most magnificent members of the Caprinae or goat family, and it is the official “National Animal of Pakistan.” It has perhaps the most impressive horns of the family, with huge, spiraled, twisting horns that are either straight or flaring in outline depending on the subspecies. Markhor are incredible climbers, scaling cliffs with ease and even climbing into oak trees to feed on leaves.

Brown Bear

Brown bear has furry coats in shades of blonde, brown, black, or a combination of these colors. The longer outer guard hairs of the brown bear are often tipped with white or silver, giving a ‘grizzled’ appearance. Their heads are large and round with a concave facial profile, a characteristic used to distinguish them from other bears. Like all bears, brown bears are plantigrades and can stand up on their hind legs for extended periods of time.

Snow Leopard

Snow Leopards are large cats, most active at dawn and dusk. They have white fur coat with brownish/yellow tinges that is covered with rings of brown/black rosette/spots. The markings help camouflage it from prey. Their fur is long and woolly and helps protect the cat from extreme cold. Snow Leopards have heavy fur on their tail and the bottoms of their paws are covered with fur for protection against the cold snow.

Himalayan Ibex

The coat colouration varies widely across ibex’s range. The general colour of the pelage is a light tan, with the undersides lighter. In winter, mature males become much darker, with varying patches of white on the neck and back. Males have a beard. Both sexes have horns. Females show slender, shorter, backward curving horns, while males have massive horns, flattened on their front edge and roughly triangular in cross section

Himalayan Lynx

Lynxes have very short tails, with long powerful legs and large paws. Their ears terminate in long, black hair tufts, and their cheeks are framed by longer white and black hair. Their overall body colour is silvery grey, with a reddish under fur, showing more reddish tones in summer coat. Immature lynxes have black spots all over the body, which fade with age, although some adults still show faint spots on the outside of the upper limbs and forehead.

Golden Marmot

Marmots are large rodents, with flat head and short neck. Their body shape and size reflect the partly subterranean life, being streamlined and flexible: marmots are capable of pushing their way through narrow holes. Hind legs are shorter than forelegs. The large eyes are close to the top of the head, allowing the animal to see the terrain above ground while remaining inside the burrow. Ears are small and barely extend beyond the fur.

Blue Sheep

Despite their name, blue sheep are neither blue nor sheep: they are slate-grey to brownish and closer to the goats than to the sheep, as morphological, behavioural, and molecular analyses have shown. Blue sheep are sexually dimorphic, with males larger than females. Adult males have rather large, backward-sweeping horns, whereas females have very small horns. They are not present in the Park but they may migrate into it..

Musk Deer

Musk deer are primitive deer, not having antlers, but a pair of tusklike upper canines. Both sexes have well-developed upper canines, and in males these grow 7-14 cm (3-5 inches) long and protrude from the mouth in a fang-like manner. The canines are constantly growing, but, they are also easily broken, due to their mobility and fragility. It looks like a small deer with a stocky build, and hind legs longer than front legs.

Grey Wolf

Grey wolves are canines with long bushy tails that are often black-tipped. Their coat color is typically a mix of grey and brown with buff facial markings and undersides, but the color can vary from solid white to brown or black. Grey wolves look somewhat like a large German shepherd. The distance between the canines is around 4 cm. Gray wolves have a dense under fur layer, providing them with excellent insulation against cold conditions.

Red Fox

Red Fox is also called Common Fox. It is the largest and well-known species of Fox. The Red Fox has a coat of long guard hairs and soft, fine underfur that is typically a rich reddish brown. Its tail is often white-tipped, and it has pointed black ears and short legs. During the autumn and winter, the Red Fox will grow more fur. This so called ‘winter fur’ keeps the animal warm in colder environments. The fox sheds this fur at the beginning of spring.

Parks and Wildlife