CDA told to form wider medical board to assess health of animals

Senate chairman directs two senators to approach Sri Lankan govt for replacement elephant

ISLAMABAD: Following reports about the deteriorating health of animals at the Marghazar Zoo, Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani on Wednesday directed the Capital Development Authority (CDA) to set up a medical board to assess the health of animals at the facility.

Chairing a meeting at the Parliament House on Wednesday, Rabbani proposed that a wider medical board should be constituted which thoroughly assess the physical and mental health of the lonely pachyderm at the zoo.

He added that the Senate had formed a committee headed by Senator Nuzhat Sadiq to look into reports over the ill health of the elephant ‘Kaavan’ at the zoo and the poor condition of the animal enclosures there.

In this regard, he directed Sadiq and Senator Samina Abid to approach the Sri Lankan government over their promise to provide a younger replacement for the ageing elephant.

The CDA was told to improve the enclosure of the elephant, provide it with healthy food and a better environment.

Earlier Islamabad Mayor and CDA Chairman Sheikh Anser Aziz told Rabbani that both the mahouts at the zoo have been suspended and transferred elsewhere to break their monopoly.

In their stead, two new zoo keepers have been engaged to provide better care and management of the male elephant.

Aziz reported that Kaavan was healthy, taking his food, and walking freely and was not currently showing any symptoms of aggressiveness or sickness.

Kaavan, the 33-year-old pachyderm, has spent almost all of its life at the at the zoo. A group of activists have been pressing the government to allow Kaavan to be transported to a sanctuary in Malaysia which has already reserved a spot for the elephant.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 13^th, 2017.