CHANDIGARH: It has been a busy spell for wildlife across Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana, with an adult gharial and a 55 year old elephant rescued in Punjab, 15 illegally confined parrots released in neighbouring Himachal Pradesh, the elusive snow leopard, known as the "Ghost of the Mountains", spotted for the first time in the Dhauladhar Wildlife Sanctuary in Kangra district, and a leopard sighted in Haryana's Yamunanagar district.
After nearly five months of coordinated monitoring, an adult gharial (Gavialis gangeticus), measuring more than 12 feet in length from Punjab that strayed into Indira Gandhi Canal of Rajasthan, has been rescued and will now be rehabilitated before being released into the Beas River Conservation Reserve.
The gharial was rescued on July 27 from the Mohangarh Minor of the Indira Gandhi Canal Project in Rajasthan's Jaisalmer district during a joint operation by the Punjab and Rajasthan forest departments, assisted by wildlife experts and field teams. The rescue effort began on March 14, when the chief wildlife warden of Rajasthan alerted his Punjab counterpart after the gharial had been spotted in the canal a day earlier. Rajasthan sought Punjab’s assistance in safely capturing and relocating the reptile, citing the state’s expertise in gharial rescue and its ongoing conservation programme for the critically endangered species.
Punjab Chief Wildlife Warden Basanta Raj Kumar said that the reptile has been shifted to Mohali’s Chhatbir Zoo for veterinary examination, health assessment, rehabilitation and acclimatisation before its proposed release into the Beas River Conservation Reserve.
Under a collaborative programme led by the Punjab forest department with technical support from WWF-India and other conservation partners, 94 juvenile gharials have been reintroduced into the Beas River Conservation Reserve, spanning 185-km across Hoshiarpur, Gurdaspur, Kapurthala, Jalandhar, Amritsar and Tarn Taran districts.
A 55-year-old female elephant, Lachami who suffering from severe health issues, including partial blindness and allegedly was being used for religious processions and begging was rescued by the Punjab Forest Department from Barnala and brought to Chhatbir Zoo in Mohali district.
Punjab Police have booked the elephant’s owner, Jai Ram of Ludhiana, and three mahouts, Kavir Das and Bali, both residents of Sanjay Gandhi Colony in Ludhiana, and Sirtaaj Ali of Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, for their alleged involvement in the mistreatment of the elephant.
DFO, Sangrur received information that an old elephant was being taken around in Barnala and that the elephant was in poor condition. Acting on this information, the officer constituted a team to search for and located the elephant at HandiayaChowk on the Bathinda–Barnala–Sangrur Road. Since the elephant was in poor condition of, the forest officers immediately seized the elephant and arranged for a medical check-up by the local veterinary officers.
The expert medical team said the elephant required immediate medical attention and constant monitoring to recover, as she was found to be dehydrated and malnourished. The Chief Wildlife Warden Basanta Raj Kumar ordered that the animal be immediately shifted to Chhatbir Zoo so that further medical examination of the animal can take place and also the health of the animal can be closely monitored by the special team.
In neighbouring Himachal Pradesh, the wildlife department rescued 15 parrots from illegal captivity in Bilaspur after the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) raised the issue and sought their immediate release.
Narinder Singh Dayal, Range Officer, Sadar Forest Range, Bilaspur, said that the first rescue operation led to the release of four parrots that had been kept by a woman and in the second operation, forest officials rescued 11 parrots found confined in a cage for more than two decades. Of these, the medical condition of 11 birds is not satisfactory and they have been shifted to the Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre at Tutikandi in Shimla, where they will undergo medical treatment, rehabilitation and expert supervision before being released into their natural habitat.
Also, an endangered snow leopard (Panthera uncia) also popularly known as the “Ghost of the Mountains”, has been spotted and clicked for the first time in the Dhauladhar Wildlife Sanctuary in Kangra district of the state.
The snow leopard is primarily found in the trans-Himalayan regions of Himachal Pradesh at elevations between 3,000 and 5,500 metres. Its known habitats include Lahaul-Spiti, Kinnaur, Pangi and Bharmour areas of Chamba district, and the upper reaches of Kullu district. The latest photographic evidence from the Dhauladhar Wildlife Sanctuary is significant as it confirms the species’ presence south of its core trans-Himalayan range and highlights the sanctuary’s role as an important ecological corridor linking the Dhauladhar landscape with the high-altitude habitats of Lahaul. The image was captured by a camera trap on December 21, 2025, at an altitude of 2,836 metres in the sanctuary.
Meanwhile, a leopard was spotted on the Chhachhrauli Shahpur road in Haryana's Yamunanagar district. A video of the animal sitting near the Som river bridge and later running away after being illuminated by headlights of vehicles has gone viral on social media. The Wildlife Department has advised residents to remain cautious, especially at night and urged farmers to stay alert when visiting their fields. The leopard sighting has raised concern among regular travellers and villagers living close to the forest area.