Wildlife Surviving Ongoing Conflict in Afghanistan A new survey
conducted by WCS scientists, supported by the U.S. Agency for
International Development (USAID), reveals that large mammals,
including Asiatic black bears, gray wolves, markhor goats, and
leopard cats, are surviving in parts of Afghanistan after years
of conflict. The field team used camera-trap surveys, transect
surveys, and DNA identification of scat samples in the first
wildlife update in the conflict-plagued eastern province of
Nuristan since 1977. The surveys, conducted between 2006 and
2009 covering an area of 1,100 square kilometers, confirmed the
presence of several important species in the region’s montane
deciduous and coniferous forests, including the first documented
sighting of the common palm civet in Afghanistan. The results
mirror studies in other parts of Afghanistan indicating that
wildlife continues to survive despite deforestation, habitat
degradation, and decades with the absence of rule of law. “This
ongoing work in Afghanis