The feathered creatures are kept in quarantine, sometimes for several weeks, until they are suitable for release.
Zaheer Ahmed said the center could receive up to 30 calls a day in summer from residents about wildlife in distress, including birds, adding that their main priorities were to provide medical care, food and water.PHOTO: AFP
Holding an Asian koel in his hands, wildlife officer Zaheer Ahmed gently spread his wings as part of a health check-up to rehabilitate birds struck by dehydration or heatstroke in Islamabad.
Pakistan – one of the countries most vulnerable to the effects of climate change – experienced its second hottest year since 1960 in 2025, according to government data.
This photo shows wildlife officer Zaheer Ahmed (right) tending to an injured kite at the Margallah Wildlife Rescue Center in Islamabad on July 7, 2026. PHOTO: AFP
Temperatures in Islamabad this summer have exceeded 40°C.
“In the past, due to kite flying, the string damaged their wings,” said Sakhawat Ali, director of the Islamabad Wildlife Management Board, which oversees the Margallah Wildlife Rescue Center in Islamabad.
“But in the last year or two, most of the cases we receive are birds that are dehydrated and suffering from heat stress.”
The wildlife rescue center, located at the foothills of Margalla Hills, was once the site of Islamabad’s famous zoo, where neglected elephants and malnourished lions were kept in cages.
Kites resting in a cage at the Margallah Wildlife Rescue Center in Islamabad, July 7, 2026.PHOTO:AFP
The zoo was closed in 2020.
On the overgrown grounds where large dinosaur sculptures still stand, wild animals have been brought in from across Pakistan for rehabilitation, including bears and monkeys abused by their private owners.
A wildlife officer, Zaheer Ahmed, prepares a rehydration drink for birds at the Margallah Wildlife Rescue Center in Islamabad, July 7, 2026. PHOTO: AFP
Scientists warn that extreme weather events such as heatwaves are becoming more frequent and more intense due to human-induced climate change.
Ahmed said the center can receive up to 30 calls a day in summer from residents about wildlife in distress, including birds, adding that their main priorities are to provide medical care, food and water.
The feathered creatures are kept in quarantine, sometimes for several weeks, until they are suitable for release.
The birds face an increased threat from wildfires, which can overlap with their breeding seasons, Ahmed said.
A pigeon drinking from a bowl of water in Islamabad, July 10, 2026.PHOTO:AFP
“The birds’ nests are also burned. The birds themselves are also a little burned,” says Ahmed. “This is how their entire habitat is destroyed.”
Ali encouraged residents to provide water bowls for their friendly poultry to drink, bathe and cool off.
The Islamabad Wildlife Management Board is studying whether climate change is disrupting the birds’ breeding seasons and food sources, which could decrease their populations.
