Afghanistan has long been known for diverse wildlife. Many of the larger mammals in the country are categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as globally threatened. These include the snow leopard, Marco Polo sheep, Siberian musk deer, markhor, urial, and the Asiatic black bear.[1][2] Other species of interest are the ibex, the gray wolf, and the brown bear, striped hyenas, and numerous bird of prey species. [3][4][5] Most of the Marco Polo sheep and ibex are being poached for food, whereas wolves, snow leopards and bears are being killed for damage prevention.[6]
Aleopard was recorded by a camera-trap in Bamyan Province in 2011. The long-lasting conflict in the country badly affected both predator and prey species, so that the national population is considered to be small and severely threatened.[7][8][9] Between 2004 and 2007, a total of 85 leopard skins were seen being offered in markets of Kabul.[10] Contemporary records do not exist for any of the smaller cat species known to have been present in the country, all of which were threatened already in the 1970s by indiscriminate hunting, prey depletion and habitat destruction.[11]
The Asiatic cheetah is considered to be extirpated in Afghanistan since the 1950s.[11] Two cheetah skins were seen in markets in the country, one in 1971, and then in 2006. The latter was reportedly from Samangan Province.[12]
The Caspian tiger used to occur along the upper reaches of Hari-Rud near Herat to the jungles in the lower reaches of the river until the early 1970s.[13]
Uncertain is the historical presence of the Asiatic lion in the country, as locality records are not known.[11] It is thought to have been present in southwestern and southern Afghanistan.[14] In March 2017, the Afghan Border Police (ABP) seized six white lions at the Wesh–Chaman border crossinginSpin Boldak before being smuggled into neighboring Pakistan. The origin of the lions was unclear at first,[15] but the ABP said that they were from Africa. In April 2017, four of the lions were taken to Kabul Zoo. The other two were still somewhere in Kandahar Province.[16]
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