Feeding Human Food Unhealthy for Animals 

News Desk

Islamabad: What may appear to be an act of kindness towards wildlife can endanger animals and create safety risks for visitors, as authorities in Islamabad’s Margalla Hills National Park warn people against feeding wild animals.

The Islamabad Wildlife Management Board (IWMB) has repeatedly urged visitors to stop offering food to monkeys and other wildlife, saying such practices are disrupting animals’ natural feeding habits and contributing to human-wildlife conflicts.

An IWMB official told APP that forest guards regularly advise visitors not to feed monkeys with boiled corn or other food items. He said repeated feeding had resulted in monkeys becoming accustomed to humans and, in some cases, attacking visitors when food was not provided.

According to the official, wildlife in the Margalla Hills has access to sufficient food within its natural habitat and does not require human intervention. Feeding animals can disturb the natural ecological cycle and encourage them to become dependent on people.

The problem is not limited to monkeys. Visitors travelling towards Faisal Mosque often stop to observe spotted deer and zebras kept in enclosures and offer them buns, biscuits, popcorn and other human food.

Wildlife officials warn that such food can adversely affect the health of animals and may contribute to nutritional problems and disease.

The Tufts Wildlife Clinic in Massachusetts has also cautioned that feeding wild animals can make them lose their natural fear of humans. Once animals associate people with food, they may begin approaching residential and recreational areas, potentially becoming a nuisance or a safety hazard.

The clinic further warned against feeding wildlife from moving or parked vehicles, saying such behaviour can put animals, people and property at risk.

Islamabad’s growing interaction with wildlife is particularly significant because the federal capital borders the Margalla Hills National Park, a habitat for a wide range of species, including the Asian leopard.

The IWMB has also urged citizens to report injured or stranded wildlife so that trained teams can intervene. The Board recently rescued a sparrowhawk chick from Sector F-7 following a citizen’s complaint.

Officials have appealed to visitors to observe wildlife from a safe distance rather than feeding it, stressing that protecting animals often means allowing them to remain dependent on their natural habitat rather than on humans.