ISLAMABAD-
Owing to damming and ecological fragmentation of water bodies, pollution, water diversion, habitat destruction and indiscriminate hunting, population of Mahasher fish has been continuously declining in the country.
The fish of Tor family is presently almost non-existent in the rivers of Punjab.
“Pakistan Museum of Natural History (PMNH) has taken effective measures to preserve the fish, facing extinction at alarming pace, by declaring Poonch River of Azad Jammu and Kashmir as Mahasher National Park,” said Director of PMNH, Dr Muhammad Rafique.
He further said that IUCN has declared the fish as an endangered species, adding that 10 Kg specimen of 3.5 feet long have been caught in the Poonch River.
