Human interaction and attitude towards wildlife in Muzaffarabad, Azad Jammu and Kashmir-Pakistan

Human-wildlife interaction is an important topic for analyzing the threat to wildlife. It may have a severe impact on sustainability for both humans and wildlife if unchecked. Hence, data on the different uses of wild animals i.e. food, ethnomedicine, fun and etc. and hunting and killing of animals in Muzaffarabad, Azad Jammu and Kashmir was collected. The data were collected through direct (i.e., dead body observation) and indirect (i.e., meetings with local people) methods. Results showed a total of 386 wild animals belonging to 37 species from four major vertebrate groups were killed during the study period. High numbers of animal killings were noted for different reasons, i.e., trade, road accidents, food, medicine, etc. This illegal and brutal hunting of wildlife requires immediate conservation measures.