Khunzerav National Park Gilgit Baltistan, Pakistan

Khunzerav National Park Gilgit Baltistan, A Gateway to China

Khunzerav national park (wrongly known as khunjerab) is the national park of gilgit Baltistan. Khun means “blood” and zerav is “to stream” in Wakhi, the native language. The name has been wrongly pronounced and written for a long time because the language was not developed at that time and it is difficult to pronounce by speakers of other languages. The Khunzerav National Park was established primarily as a means to protect the Marco Polo sheep (as well as snow leopards and bharal) living in the area. The borders of the park were mapped by Schaller in 1974, after a short field survey. The park was formally established on April 29, 1979 by Prime Minister of Pakistan Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who said that "it must become a world famous park" Khunzerav National Park is Pakistan's third largest national park. It is adjacent to Taxkorgan Natural Reserve (1,400,000ha) in China. This park was created on 29 April 1975 on the recommendation of wildlife biologist Dr. George Schaller. Over half of the park is above 4,000m. Khunjerab Pass, the gateway to China via the Karakoram Highway, is at 4,934m. The primary purpose of this park was to provide protection to the endangered Marco Polo sheep, which is only found in this area in Pakistan. The park is also famous for its snow leopards. Some reports say that it might contain the highest density of these beautiful cats in the total Himalayan ecosystem, which is the natural habitat of these cats. Over 2,000 Siberian ibex, widely distributed and abundant in the park but absent from neighboring China, are also present here.