Megafauna assemblage of the Kirthar Range, Pakistan within the last 500 years
The Kirthar Range, forms the natural boundary between the Pakistani provinces of Sindh and Balochistan. From the coast of the Arabian sea at Cape Monze, the range extends ~200 miles northwards to the debouch of the Mula river. Altitude ranges from sea level to 7,438 feet at its highest point at Zardak peak.
Two distinct habitat types are predominant: i). Monsoon-influenced arid subtropical forest (humid summers/mild but dry winters; Euphorbia caducifolia, Nannorrhops ritchieana, Senegalia senegal, Ziziphus nummularia etc.), and ii). Tropical thorn forest (Capparis decidua, Prosopis cineraria, Salvadora persica, Suaeda fruticosa etc.), additionally the Indus river skirts the east of the range, and although now predominantly under cultivation, it would've been surrounded by a 4-12 miles wide Tamarix dioica & Tripidium bengalense riverine forest.
3 PAs exist on the range i.e. Kirthar National Park, Mahal Kohistan Wildlife Sanctuary, and Sumbak-Surjan Game Reserve. Additionally the Hab Dam Wildlife Sanctuary borders the national park to the south.
Indian wolf (Canis lupus pallipes) The most abundant surviving large carnivore in the area although that isn't saying much. Extended into the adjoining Hub river valley and even into suburban Karachi up to the 1970s. Frequently a victim of retaliatory killings by farmers and herders;
Balochistan black bear (Ursus thibetanus gedrosianus) The smallest subspecies of the Asiatic black bear, with its shorter coarser fur often reddish-brown in colour. Commonly associated with Nannorrhops ritchieana. Most likely extinct within the range itself, although one was recently (November, 2025) killed in the nearby Pab range.
Striped hyena (Hyaena hyaena) Possibly still extant, although not definitively recorded recently.
Asiatic lion (Panthera leo leo/persica) Recorded from Manchchar Lake in the 1810s.
Persian leopard (Panthera pardus tulliana) Kirthar is the type locality of junior synonym P. p. sindica the coat of which was described as "fulvous-buff type, richer than in the typical Persian panthers but very decidedly paler than in the average Indian form". A small, ever decreasing population most likely still persists, one juvenile was killed as recently as Januaray, 2024.
Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) Not known from Kirthar itself, its recent range along the Indus not extending south of Sukkur, it is likely to be found in the region as the rulers (Jams) of Las Bela immediately to the west were reported to hunt both lions and tigers in their territory.
Asiatic cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus venaticus) Described in the 1880s as "[leopard and cheetah] affect the hills approaching the Indus, where both prey on the gazelle... [it] seldom emerges from its hilly retreat". Allegedly sighted in the surrounding lowlands as late as the 1960s.
Khur/Indian wild ass (Equus hemionus khur) Extinct. Kirthar (and trans-Indus) population have been suggested to form an intergrade between E. h. onager and E. h. khur. Chenopodium and Euphorbia species that form a part of the diet of this species are common throughout valleys in Kirthar,
Wild pig (Sus scrofa davidi) Common
Hog deer (Axis porcinus) Small, isolated populations survive in reserved forests along the length of the Indus. Likely also existed along the shores of the shores of the Manchhar lake within the last 200 years.
Barasingha (Rucervus duvaucelii duvaucelii) Although not reported from lower Sindh, having been extirpated from its haunts around Sukkur and Rohri in the 1890s/1900s, it likely ranged further south when favourable habitat still existed, similar to the tiger.
Blackbuck (Antilope cervicapra) Introduced in the 1980s. Managed as a semi-wild population.
Chinkara (Gazella bennettii fuscifrons) Classed as vulnerable within Kirthar National Park. As of 1997 "still widespread in Lasbela, and a few survive in the ravines at the base of the Kirthar range in Sindh and around Dadu district in the Lakhi Hills".
Sindh ibex (Capra aegagrus) Sindh ibex were originally described as a subspecies of wild goat - C. a. blythi although distinction from the nominate form has recently been questioned. Fairly common, herds of up to 80 individuals are still seen. 1,200 sighted in 2013 in Kirthar National Park, 3,100 in total estimated for Sindh in the late 1980s.
Gud/Sindh urial (Ovis vignei cycloceros) Common. Found throughout Kirthar, Sindh Kohistan, and the Pab range. Up to 1,350 estimated in the late 1980s.
Mugger (Crocodylus palustris) Previously found in the both the Indus and the Hab rivers, as well as in Manchhar lake, it presently restricted to a small remnant population in the Hab Dam Wildlife Sanctuary.
Gharial (Gavialis gangeticus) Extinct in the Indus since the 1980s.