The feathered creatures are kept in quarantine, sometimes for weeks, until they are able to be released.
Zaheer Ahmed said the center can receive up to 30 calls a day in the summer from locals about distressed wildlife, including birds, adding that their top priorities are providing medical care, food and water. PHOTO: AFP
Wildlife officer Zaheer Ahmed cradled an Asiatic koel in his hands and gently stretched its wings as part of a health check to rehabilitate birds suffering from dehydration or heat stroke in Islamabad.
Pakistan – one of the most vulnerable countries to the effects of climate change – saw its second hottest year since 1960 in 2025, according to government data.
This photograph shows wildlife officer Zaheer Ahmed (right) treating an injured dragon at the Margallah Wildlife Rescue Center in Islamabad, July 7, 2026. PHOTO:AFP
Temperatures in Islamabad this summer have pushed above 40°C.
“Earlier, due to kite flying, the string used to damage their wings,” said Sakhawat Ali, director of the Islamabad Wildlife Management Board, which oversees the Margallah Wildlife Rescue Center in Islamabad.
“However, in the last one or two years, most of the cases we have received involve birds that are dehydrated and suffering from heat stress.”
The wildlife rescue centre, located at the foothills of the Margalla Hills, was once the site of the infamous Islamabad Zoo, where neglected elephants and malnourished lions were kept in cages.
Kites rest inside a cage at the Margallah Wildlife Rescue Center in Islamabad, July 7, 2026. PHOTO:AFP
The zoo was closed in 2020.
In the overgrown grounds, where large dinosaur sculptures still stand, wild animals have been brought in for rehabilitation from all over Pakistan, 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 heat waves are becoming more frequent and more intense as a result of human-induced climate change.
Ahmed said the center can receive up to 30 calls a day in the summer from locals about distressed wildlife, including birds, adding that their top priorities are to provide medical care, food and water.
The feathered creatures are kept in quarantine, sometimes for weeks, until they are able to be released.
Birds face the increased threat of forest fires, which can overlap their breeding seasons, Ahmed said.
A pigeon drinking from a bowl of water in Islamabad, July 10, 2026. PHOTO: AFP
“Birds’ nests are also burned. The birds themselves are also burned a little,” says Ahmed. “So their whole habitat is destroyed.”
Ali encouraged residents to provide bowls of water for their friendly chickens to drink, bathe and stay cool.
The Islamabad Wildlife Management Board is investigating whether climate change is disrupting the birds’ breeding season and food sources, which could reduce their populations.
