Margalla Hills - Flora and Fauna

Flora and Fauna

The vegetation of the southern slopes is comprising deciduous and evergreen trees with most of flowering trees like Bauhinia variegata, Ficus carica, and trees like Pinus roxburghii, Quercus leucotrichophora. In the north stand pines, Eucalyptus, Peepal trees (Ficus religiosa), Paper Mulberry and groves of oake.g silver oaks. Over the years, however, the hills have suffered considerably from illegal logging and wood collection used for cooking and heating.But,CDA has planted 385000 saplings every spring.

The Margalla Hills are home to various species of wildlife, including monkeys, exotic birds and carnivores such as the rare and presently endangered Margalla leopard.

Commonly found animals in the Margallas include Rhesus monkeys, jackals (often heard cackling at night near the hills), wild boars, porcupines, mongoose and the pangolin or scaly anteater. The wild boar in particular can be seen at some of the least expected places in the city. While they generally stay close to the hills, occasionally (particularly in winter when the hills are cold and it snows on the peaks of margalla hills) they can be seen quite far from the Margallas. Often the boars will have small hideouts in the green belts in and around the city. The increasing practice of throwing litter near the hills also attracts both monkeys and wild boar to come and forage through the rubbish. The wild boars can be quite large, very solidly built and usually travel in large groups.

Much less common are leopards, which occasionally come down from the Murree area but usually remain high up in the hills. Wild life of Margalla Hills

There is another group of animals that deserves mention: the snakes of Margalla Hills. There are a number of species of poisonous snakes in the area, including cobras, Russell's Vipers, kraits—known in local parlance as the half-minute killer and indian phython. The snakes hibernate in the winter months; but tread carefully in the hotter months and particularly the monsoon months, when snakes abound. While they are to be found mainly in and around the hills, occasionally an overgrown garden can prove the ideal home.

Birds in the park include Himalayan griffon vulture, laggar falcon, peregrine falcon, kestrel, Indian sparrow hawk, Egyptian vulture, white cheeked bulbul, yellow vented bulbul, paradise flycatcher, black partridge, cheer pheasant, Khalij pheasant, golden oriole, spotted dove, collared dove, larks, shrikes, wheatears and buntings.