Birds of paradise: Two aviaries, separated by more than distance

The aviaries in Karachi and Islamabad are worlds apart

KARACHI: Peacocks spread their elaborate tail feathers in a spectacular display of colour, turn and toss their wings and shake their tails to lure the peahens. A huge white pelican swoops over at your head and lands beside you. Meanwhile, white doves stamp around your legs or fly near your shoulders, urging you to shower her with admiration and popcorn.

This is what visitors experience at Islamabad's Lake View Park's walk-in aviary.

A bird's nest rests atop a 20-foot-high cage's entryway and some crows fly in a circle above it. A broken wooden ladder stands inside the cage's iron netting, which is intermittently shrouded by wild shrubs.

This is what visitors experience at Karachi's Safari Park walk-in aviary on a hill at Karachi's Safari Park. Construction on the structure has come to a halt due to lack of funds.

Qazi Mashkoor, a resident of Karachi's Gulistan-e-Jauhar who usually goes to Safari Park for his morning walk, told The Express Tribune that he has seen the cage being constructed for over two years. "A huge cage on a barren, desolate landscape reminds me of the Jurassic Park movie," he said, adding that he had no idea that it was going to be a walk-in aviary.

Ahram Khawar, who recently moved to Islamabad from Karachi, said his visit to the Lake View Park's aviary was highly fascinating. "I cannot describe the feeling of seeing birds, which I have always seen caged or on television, literally flying freely in front of me,” he said, expressing his hope that similar aviaries will be established in Karachi as well.

In 2013, former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf inaugurated the 80-foot-high Bird Aviary at Lake View Park in Islamabad, which is spread over 3.8 acres, after several hiccups in its construction work.

On the other hand, the aviary being constructed in Karachi for the past two years is 260 feet long, 100 feet wide and around 20 feet high, according to Karachi Metropolitan Corporation's (KMC) Safari Park engineer Fahim.

"The birds are eager to get themselves housed here," laughed KMC's Safari Park additional director Kazim Hussain gesturing towards the nest on the top of the aviary.  He accepted that the aviary is presenting a rather desolate view, which he pledged to turn into a calm soothing one, once the Sindh government released the funds.

"It will not take more than a month to complete the aviary once the construction work is restarted," he claimed, adding that 80% of the work has been completed.

Stone pitching on the slope of the hill, over which the aviary is being constructed, will be the structure's entry point, according to Hussain. "There will be a double door system for the visitors to enter the aviary," he explained.

A seven-foot-high fence will be made on both sides of the walkway, so that visitors do not harm the birds, he said, adding that the birds will still be able to fly over the fence and sit on visitors' shoulders. "A railing will also be constructed along the fence for the old timers," he said.

An open fresh water conduit will run through the aviary round the clock, which would also provide water to the three to four small ponds to be constructed for water fowls, he explained.

Feathered friends

According to the assistant manager of the aviary at Islamabad's Lake View Park, Jahanzaib, the area their aviary is constructed on is huge. He said that they have two large ponds and a hanging bridge to attract visitors and keep the environment as natural as they could.

There are around 4,000 birds housed in their aviary and over 300 different species of birds, he said, which includes Curacaos - one of the oldest birds' species on the planet - peacocks, crowned pigeons, crowned cranes, pheasants, flamingos, turkeys and many different types of parrots. There are also huge pelicans, according to Jahanzaib, who added that visitors become excited when the large birds fly over their heads.

At Karachi's aviary, Hussain said they plan to house around 37 species of birds.

Maintenance costs: Adopt-a-bird programme

KMC’s culture, sports and recreation director, Raza Abbas Rizvi, insisted that though Karachi’s aviary will be smaller to that in Islamabad, it would be more scenic as it was being constructed on a hill.

According to him, they did not have enough funds to increase the area of their aviary. When asked how the cash-starved KMC would maintain the aviary once it is finally constructed, Rizvi said he was planning to introduce an animal adoption and donation programme.

Private multinational companies will be asked to adopt birds in the aviary and the cost of their food and medicines would be borne by them as well. He plans to make the aviary free of charge for visitors.

For Islamabad’s aviary, Jahanzaib explained that the Capital Development Authority (CDA) has leased the land to Ask Development Pvt Ltd, a development firm that got the land from the CDA in order to operate the aviary. He said that they charge an entry fee of Rs100 for adults, Rs50 for children and have waived the fee for disabled people. According to him, the bird feed costs around Rs20,000 per day. The aviary has a staff of 28 people, including a veterinarian.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, June 30^th, 2016.