A rare white lion died, reportedly after his lungs stopped working, at the Karachi Zoo on Wednesday. A representative for the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) confirmed the lion’s death, saying it had been sick for the past 13 days with pulmonary tuberculosis.
“He was being treated by veterinarians but could not recover and died due to his illness at 11 am on Wednesday,” the spokesperson said. However, as per social media reports the lion has allegedly been starved to death.
Earlier Journalist Quatrina Hosain posted a video in which the lion was in very poor condition. She also tagged the City Administrator Barrister Murtaza Wahab in her post, asking him to take the action against those responsible.
Actor Ayesha Omar took to her Twitter handle to speak up against the lack of funds for animal welfare at Karachi Zoo.
Mortified to find out how animals are being kept in the #KarachiZoo, apparently because of lack of funds. And this African lion died today. They say it’s tuberculosis. He was being kept in the same enclosure as the Lioness with such a contagious disease. pic.twitter.com/GSwthV8Zly
Actor and writer Yasir Hussain shared the news on his Instagram account while tagging Maryam Nawaz and wrote, “Sher tha aap hi bacha lete.”
Activist Shaniera Akram also took to her twitter to express her and disappointment.
B#%S! He died because we couldn’t look after him! Zoos should be a place where animals go for protection, hospitalisation,rehabilitation, recreation & breeding! At the very least, people can then go to observe them. Anything less than that,Are NOT Zoos they are animal prisons! https://t.co/uHMmagL3rF
Earlier, other celebrities including Ahsan Khan, Areeba Habib, Ahmed Ali Butt and Anoushey Ashraf also up against the trivialising treatment of animals in Karachi Zoo.
A lion in the Karachi Zoo has allegedly been starved to death.
Journalist Quatrina Hosain, while posting the picture of the dead lion wrote, “Shed a tear for this majestic animal reduced to misery and painful death. I am so sorry we failed you. Let my tears wash your scarred body.”
Shed a tear for this majestic animal reduced to misery and painful death. I am so sorry we failed you. Let my tears wash your scarred body …#KarachiZoopic.twitter.com/sLxiAlAogT
Earlier she posted a video in which the lion was in very poor condition. She also tagged the City Administrator Barrister Murtaza Wahab in her post, asking him to take the action against those responsible.
The video went viral on social media and people asked the city administration to take strict action against the zoo administration, Some even asked to “shut the Karachi zoo immediately.”
Moreover, celebrities including Ahsan Khan, Shaneira Akram, Areeba Habib, Ahmed Ali Butt and Anoushey Ashraf also spoke up against the trivialising treatment of animals in Karachi Zoo.
A total of four deer have been reported dead in a stray dog attack incident, reports Daily Times.
Three of them reportedly died yesterday, while the fourth was found dead at the Sahiwal’s zoo today (Thursday). It has been learned that the deer were bitten by stray dogs in the zoo on which the residents have expressed their concern.
The Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA) administration said that the deer died after being bitten by an animal as the wounds were found on the bodies of the dead animals.
This is not the first time that animals have been reported dead at the zoos of Punjab.
Animal abuse and zoos in Pakistan have long drawn international condemnation for their mistreatment of animals. Last year, on December 16, Islamabad’s Marghazar Zoo was shut down after the Islamabad High Court ordered for Kaavan the elephant and two brown bears Babloo and Suzie to be relocated to sanctuaries abroad.
A male and a female kangaroo died in Lahore Zoo on Thursday.
As per reports, the male kangaroo died after suffering from a jaw infection while the female kangaroo was unwell for a long time.
Both were provided medical assistance but couldn’t survive, the officials said.
Now13 adult kangaroos and three baby kangaroos are left at Lahore Zoo.
Earlier, a lion died of ‘cardiac arrest’ in Karachi Zoo. The director of the zoo said the lion died because of its old age and that the average lifespan of a lion is 18 years normally.
The Wild Life Department of Sindh with the help of District East officials captured the two lions in 2017 because they were transported into the city illegally. One of the two had died the later year of their fostering in the zoo, due to old age as well, the director claimed.
According to the post-mortem report of the deceased lion, the cause of death was the cardiac arrest due to heavy fat deposits on its heart.
According to Indian Mangazine The Week, owner of Reliance Industries Mukesh Ambani, is planning to make the world’s biggest zoo and animal sanctuary in Gujrat, India. This is the pet project of the youngest son of Mukesh Ambani, Anant Ambani.
The zoo and animal sanctuary will be set up on 280-acre land will be named as, “Green Zoological Rescue and Rehabilitation Kingdom”.
Moreover, the animal venture, which also includes a rescue center to support the local government, is scheduled to open in 2023. The project was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic last year but this year, work is being done as fast as possible.
The zoo and animal sanctuary will have close to 100 different species of animals from India and across the world. The African lion, cheetah, jaguar, Indian wolf, Asiatic lion, pygmy hippo, orangutan, lemur, fishing cat, sloth bear, Bengal tiger, Malayan tapir, gorilla, zebra, giraffe, African elephant and the Komodo dragon are expected to be the part of the zoo.
As per,Al JazeeraMukesh Ambani is world’s 12th richest person of the world.
Three month ago, Mukesh Ambanibecame a grandfather after his son Akash and daugther-in-law Shloka Mehta welcomed a baby boy.
Seven rare deer were reported dead in Bahawalpur Zoo on Saturday.
According to reports, it is suspected that the animals died after eating poisonous fodder. At least 12 other deer at the zoo are in critical condition.
The deer who died were of a rare breed.
The zoo management claimed that dozens of deer suddenly started falling ill. Seven of them died within a short period after falling ill while 22 were rescued and treated.
“12 are still in critical condition,” added the management.
According to the administration, the cause of the deaths has not yet been ascertained. Their samples have been sent to Lahore for further investigation.
The Bahawalpur Zoo curator said the cause of death will only be known after an autopsy.
With little legislation to safeguard animal welfare, zoos across Pakistan are notorious for their poor conditions. Recently, the Peshawar Zoo lost its fourth giraffe in 2020, just a few days after a black bear’s alleged death. Similarly, the Sindh High Court, earlier this week ordered the Karachi Zoo management to shift Rano from her 25-foot wide Victorian ‘grotto’ pit to another open cage.
The Sindh High Court has ordered the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) and Karachi Zoo administration to shift Rano from her 25-foot wide Victorian ‘grotto’ pit to another open cage, reportedly 500 times bigger than her current enclosure.
According to a report in Samaa News, the court ordered authorities to immediately shift the 20-year-old Syrian brown bear, who has been living a solitary life for the last three years. The instructions, recommended by a five-member team formed to evaluate the condition of the bear and the zoo, were passed on an interim basis until a final decision is taken.
It has been reported that the new cage is spread over 2,100 square feet and is on ground level, unlike her previous enclosure which was an underground pit. However, it too requires some improvisations.
@spar_pk speaking after court hearing on Rano. As an interim measure, while the lawyers from the Sindh Govt asked for more time, @spar_pk lawyers pushed and got an order to relocate Rano immediately to an adjacent space which is an above ground cage, pic.twitter.com/xwWBrSr9vE
Rano’s plight had sparked nationwide protests in the summer following which 38 people signed a petition filed in the Sindh High Court by Barrister Mohsin Shahwani on October 1, 2020. In the application, the petitioners had highlighted the animal’s plight and had alleged that the bear was not being well taken care of and was not being fed on time. The petition has demanded Rano be sent back to Skardu so that she can be among her own.
In the successive hearing on October 5, the court had instructed KMC to install an air-cooler inside Rano’s enclosure to provide her some relief. It also ordered authorities to present the zoo’s budget and details of details, expressing anger over the fact that there was only one doctor for all animals at the zoo.
According to animal experts, Rano is suffering from emotional and psychological distress which is why she is often seen panting heavily and roaming in circles. The Society for the Protection of Animal Rights (SPAR) is hopeful that Rano, in her new temporary cage, is able to move around easily, explore and play with items of an enrichment program, be able to see zoo activities, birds, trees and other animals and have a less lonely, stressed life.
For now.Till the next hearing.We will follow up with the Karachi Zoo management to ensure the new space is as per her needs,as defined in the report we submitted which was discussed in court today along with the reports of the previous court appointed committee. Source @spar_pk
Meanwhile, Islamabad’s Marghazar Zoo — which drew international condemnation for its treatment of lonely elephant Kaavan — shut down on December 16 after its final occupants Babloo and Suzie were relocated to a sanctuary inJordan.
As per details, the Himalayan brown bears suffer from psychological problems due to living in a substandard enclosure, with the female Suzie undergoing major surgery in the summer after a tumour was removed from her chest. Local vets were unable to stitch up seven inches open cut in the centre of her chest and she developed an infection. Four Paws vets, who arrived in August, operated on Suzie again and cleaned the infected wound. This was also the reason why sanctuaries within Pakistan refused to take them in.
“She is now recovering and healthy. Both bears are doing well physically now that we have put them on a better nutritional diet of fruits and vegetables. Suzie had diarrhoea all the time because she was mostly fed milk,” a spokesperson for Four Paws, Marion Lombard had told local media outlets.
Several celebrities including Hamza Ali Abbasi and Mehwish Hayat have called for zoos across the country to be shut down given the mistreatment of animals there.
After reports of mistreatment of animals in zoos and the successful transfer of Kaavan, Suzie and Babloo to sanctuaries abroad, Hamza Ali Abbasi took to social media and demanded zoos across Pakistan be shut down.
Quoting Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) Chief Justice Athar Minallah, Hamza said: “IHC rules that zoos are concentration camps for non-human living beings. It’s true.”
“Caging animals for public entertainment is cruel and evil,” he continued. “Pakistan has a chance to earn the respect of the world and make God happy by freeing all the animals in captivity.”
“Close all Pak zoos please,” asserted the actor.
Abbasi also urged his fans to use the hashtag #CloseAllPakZoos to support the cause and raise their voice on the matter.
If you agree, please be the voice for those who cant speak for themselves and make this hashtag trend for as long as we can so maybe someone in the decision making arena may listen especially after IHC ruling. #CloseAllPakZoos
Earlier, the IHC while ordering the transfer of the two Himalayan bears to Jordan had said: “The natural habitat of Suzie and Bubloo was the high altitude plateau of Deosai National Park in the Himalayas. It was indeed inhumane to have deprived them of living in their natural habitat merely for the entertainment of the human species.”
“They have remained caged in the Marghazar Zoo for more than a decade. A zoo, no matter how well equipped, is no less than a concentration camp for living beings. They were born free and taking them out of their natural habitat and caging them was in violation of the natural rights bestowed upon them by the Creator.”
“They have suffered enough and they lack the ability to let the human species know what they must have gone through. Their abnormal behaviour while imprisoned was sufficient to speak volumes for the unimaginable pain and suffering.”
“The relocation of Kaavan the elephant, and the two Himalayan brown bears, Suzie and Bubloo, to appropriate sanctuaries has set a precedent for others to follow. They will always represent the people of Pakistan and their resolve to treat living species with respect and dignity,” it added.
Meanwhile, Ayesha Omar also expressed joy over the closure of Islamabad Zoo.
Earlier, Mehwish Hayat had also urged authorities to close all zoos across the country.
In a country where we’re still fighting for human rights,animal rights are a long way off. But come on,why do we only take action when foreign celebrities get involved?This is so embarrassing.Animals are born free- the authorities must shut these zoos now!https://t.co/jY6MzNXu7W
Peshawar Zoo lost its fourth giraffe in 2020 on Monday, just a few days after a black bear’s alleged death.
According to details, the male giraffe had been suffering from an intestinal infection for one week and was under treatment in the zoo. Zoo officials said that samples were collected from the dead body and sent to the National Veterinary Laboratory, Islamabad, and Veterinary Research Institute, Peshawar, for examination and to ascertain the exact cause of the death.
A three-year-old giraffe was earlier found dead in June, while the other two died in April and May.
“The earlier three died of shooting diarrhoea while this one now had a somewhat different cause of death,” stated Project Director of the Peshawar Zoo, Ishtiaq Wazir. “We had provided antibiotics to the giraffe but it did not recover,” added the official.
He further said that giraffes are fragile animals and the symptom of their disease appears at the time when preventive intervention cannot succeed in treating them.
Officials said the zoo was left with two female giraffes only.
Animal rights activists have been campaigning for the condition of animals kept in Peshawar zoo. A petition about issues of the Peshawar zoo, including animal deaths and qualification of staff members, especially veterinarians, is also pending with the Peshawar High Court.
Islamabad zoo shuts down after last animals moved
Meanwhile, Islamabad’s Marghazar Zoo — which drew international condemnation for its treatment of lonely elephant Kaavan — shut down on Wednesday after its final occupants Babloo and Suzie were relocated to Jordan.
Babloo
The two Himalayan bears were the last to leave the Islamabad facility, almost three weeks after the country’s only Asian elephant was flown to a wildlife sanctuary in Cambodia.
“The Islamabad zoo is now completely closed for both public and officials,” said Saleem Shaikh, a spokesman for Pakistan’s ministry of climate change.
