Peshawar Zoo’s bad luck with animals
Officials blame deaths on poor transportation facilities as body count rises
Officials blame deaths on poor transportation facilities as body count rises. PHOTO: Express
PESHAWAR:
The inauguration of the Peshawar Zoo two months ago came under a dark cloud. Just a week before its doors were flung open, five spotted deer had died as they were transported from the Nizampur Wildlife Park in Nowshera to the zoo in the heart of Peshawar.
The sad news, though, did not deflate the spirits of the administration who went ahead with the plan to open the zoo.
It seems that with all the preoccupations with opening and running the zoo, the incident with the spotted deer was soon forgotten with a blue bull meeting the same fate soon after, followed by the death of a beautiful black buck and at least three chinkara does.
Snow leopard dies at Peshawar Zoo
Though none of them died inside the zoo, most of them lost their lives due to either mishandling and other complications in their transfer to the zoo. Officials termed the incidents up to “inexperienced transporters” and the poachers hired to catch these animals.
As time went on, the deaths kept on coming. Just in the past month, a monkey died at the zoo. It made a ripple in the media and soon everything went back to normal after the zoo authorities explained it as a predatory death caused by a wolf.
“The monkey died of old age. And there is nothing abnormal about it, as animals — just like human beings — can die of old age,” said an official of the zoo while speaking to the Express Tribune, adding that an autopsy of the monkey had been conducted and nothing unusual was found. Asked about the death of the deer, he again pointed the finger towards their handlers during transport.
“We are not responsible for the death of the five spotted deer since these animals died during transportation and it is quite normal as the mortality rate among the spotted deer is 80 per cent internationally,” he explained.
“These animals were wild. They were chased and caught from their wildlife reserve so most of them had suffered injuries and some of them died of extreme exhaustion,” said the official, adding that other animals died due to the fact that those who caught them and transported them were not experienced.
“The chinkara deer was pregnant and it was a bad idea to catch them and transport them to the zoo by inexperienced handlers,” he argued, adding that the Blue Bull also died during transportation.
“We are completely experienced in management and there is nothing abnormal in the death of one monkey. It was very old and already suffering when it reached the zoo,” he said.
Another wildlife official told the Express Tribune that when wild animals are caught from reserves and put in cages they often suffer injuries.
Stage fright
A wildlife official said that animals caught from the wild are not used to being around humans and deal with them as any predator or threat.
Lion shifted from Lahore to Peshawar Zoo falls sick
“These animals avoid human beings but when you put them in cages and people visit them in crowds they often try to run and hide in their small cages. When they try and escape from their enclosures, they suffer injuries,” he said, adding that extreme care is required and these animals should not be exposed to crowds suddenly otherwise they could die, he warned.
Another problem at the newly established Peshawar Zoo is the unchecked harassment of animals by visitors. Several videos posted on social media show people toying with animals.
One shows people sticking sticks through the cages and teasing the lions, and just when the big cat got close, they would then beat the animal with the stick.
“Students often come here and they harass the animals, said a Zoo official as he conceded that “this is a problem.”
He added that a decision had been made that all those who caught harassing or mistreating animals would be handed over to the police, especially the lions.
Panic?
With the death of a prized animal — an endangered snow leopard — at the zoo earlier in the month, the government has finally sat up and taken notice.
First, Environment Secretary Nazar Hussain Shah to order an inquiry into the death of the leopard on March 16. He had directed that a completed report should be submitted to his office within seven days.
Later, the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Secretary formed a three-member committee comprising the Higher Education Department Additional Secretary Kabri Afridi as its convener along with Wildlife DFO Halim Khan, and retired chief conservator Dr Malik Mumtaz as its members.
At the time, officials had said that the leopard had lived at a wildlife enclosure in Abbottabad for over a decade and as they were mulling on plans to release him back in the wild, orders came to take him elsewhere.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 26th, 2018.
The inauguration of the Peshawar Zoo two months ago came under a dark cloud. Just a week before its doors were flung open, five spotted deer had died as they were transported from the Nizampur Wildlife Park in Nowshera to the zoo in the heart of Peshawar.
The sad news, though, did not deflate the spirits of the administration who went ahead with the plan to open the zoo.
It seems that with all the preoccupations with opening and running the zoo, the incident with the spotted deer was soon forgotten with a blue bull meeting the same fate soon after, followed by the death of a beautiful black buck and at least three chinkara does.
Snow leopard dies at Peshawar Zoo
Though none of them died inside the zoo, most of them lost their lives due to either mishandling and other complications in their transfer to the zoo. Officials termed the incidents up to “inexperienced transporters” and the poachers hired to catch these animals.
As time went on, the deaths kept on coming. Just in the past month, a monkey died at the zoo. It made a ripple in the media and soon everything went back to normal after the zoo authorities explained it as a predatory death caused by a wolf.
“The monkey died of old age. And there is nothing abnormal about it, as animals — just like human beings — can die of old age,” said an official of the zoo while speaking to the Express Tribune, adding that an autopsy of the monkey had been conducted and nothing unusual was found. Asked about the death of the deer, he again pointed the finger towards their handlers during transport.
“We are not responsible for the death of the five spotted deer since these animals died during transportation and it is quite normal as the mortality rate among the spotted deer is 80 per cent internationally,” he explained.
“These animals were wild. They were chased and caught from their wildlife reserve so most of them had suffered injuries and some of them died of extreme exhaustion,” said the official, adding that other animals died due to the fact that those who caught them and transported them were not experienced.
“The chinkara deer was pregnant and it was a bad idea to catch them and transport them to the zoo by inexperienced handlers,” he argued, adding that the Blue Bull also died during transportation.
“We are completely experienced in management and there is nothing abnormal in the death of one monkey. It was very old and already suffering when it reached the zoo,” he said.
Another wildlife official told the Express Tribune that when wild animals are caught from reserves and put in cages they often suffer injuries.
Stage fright
A wildlife official said that animals caught from the wild are not used to being around humans and deal with them as any predator or threat.
Lion shifted from Lahore to Peshawar Zoo falls sick
“These animals avoid human beings but when you put them in cages and people visit them in crowds they often try to run and hide in their small cages. When they try and escape from their enclosures, they suffer injuries,” he said, adding that extreme care is required and these animals should not be exposed to crowds suddenly otherwise they could die, he warned.
Another problem at the newly established Peshawar Zoo is the unchecked harassment of animals by visitors. Several videos posted on social media show people toying with animals.
One shows people sticking sticks through the cages and teasing the lions, and just when the big cat got close, they would then beat the animal with the stick.
“Students often come here and they harass the animals, said a Zoo official as he conceded that “this is a problem.”
He added that a decision had been made that all those who caught harassing or mistreating animals would be handed over to the police, especially the lions.
Panic?
With the death of a prized animal — an endangered snow leopard — at the zoo earlier in the month, the government has finally sat up and taken notice.
First, Environment Secretary Nazar Hussain Shah to order an inquiry into the death of the leopard on March 16. He had directed that a completed report should be submitted to his office within seven days.
Later, the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Secretary formed a three-member committee comprising the Higher Education Department Additional Secretary Kabri Afridi as its convener along with Wildlife DFO Halim Khan, and retired chief conservator Dr Malik Mumtaz as its members.
At the time, officials had said that the leopard had lived at a wildlife enclosure in Abbottabad for over a decade and as they were mulling on plans to release him back in the wild, orders came to take him elsewhere.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 26th, 2018.