Corruption plaguing import of exotic creatures for zoo

Importers have been supplying wild-caught animals instead of those born in captivity

LAHORE: A breach of international laws and document forgery by importers, who supply animals to the Punjab Wildlife Department (PWD), has delayed the import of certain exotic creatures by more than 18 months.

According to information available with The Express Tribune, there have been some serious irregularities in the import of animals over the past few years. Instead of supplying captive-born animals to the wildlife department, suppliers, in complete violation of the rules, have sold wild animals to different zoos.

Wildlife Department Director General Sohail Ashraf has recently decided to cancel the tender for the import of tigers and has declared October as the final deadline for the import of elephants and several other animals.

He announced that if the importers fail to deliver the animals to the Lahore Zoo within the prescribed time, the tender will be cancelled. The DG added that considering the present condition of zoos and safari parks, there is no need to buy more of the same animals that are already present in the zoo.

“First, we will have to improve and expand the infrastructure of zoos and safari parks so that animals can be handled as per international laws and standards,” Ashraf said. “We should procure new animals which we do not have since this will attract visitors.”

The department of wildlife has been procuring animals of various breeds for the Lahore zoo and other parks for the last many years.

Per the laws, the department cannot directly import and buy these animals and hence tenders are summoned for the purpose.

However, it has come to notice that a particular group has been succeeding in winning the tenders of the wildlife department for many years. It is believed that this entity enjoys the support of the inner circles of the department.

The group offers animals to the department at inflated prices, but instead of importing them, it buys the creatures from other importers at a lower price before providing them to the PWD. Credible sources confirmed that a year and a half ago, the department had issued a tender to bring a new elephant to the Lahore zoo. Along with the elephant, a tender was also issued for a rhinoceros, hippopotamus and Royal Bengal tigers.

A few days ago, the director-general of the wildlife department Sohail Ashraf cancelled the tender for the procurement of Royal Bengal tigers and fixed September 2019 as the deadline. The failure to provide elephants and other animals to the Lahore zoo during this time will lead to the cancellation of the tender.

According to sources, the group obtained forged documents from abroad for the supply of chimpanzees to the department for which it had been blacklisted by the relevant federal ministry for some time.

Sohail Ashraf said that the tender for an elephant, together with several other animals, was issued before his appointment.

“The tender to procure an elephant was issued nearly 21 months ago, however, the importer has not brought the animal to the zoo,” Ashraf said. “I have warned them that if they fail to send elephants and other animals within the deadline, the tender will be cancelled.”

Lahore Zoo Director Hasan Sakhera, on the other hand, said that the procedure for issuing tenders is transparent and everyone in the department can be a part of it.

“The management has to review the import documents of the company succeeding in procuring the tender. We verify if the import documents are in the name of the same firm,” Sakhera explained.

On being questioned about the giraffes and tiger imported by the department from a firm which had not been issued a tender by the department, Sakhera acknowledged that few animals had been imported by other firms.

Sources also revealed that current wildlife secretary Muhammad Asif and director-general Sohail Ashraf had been making several attempts to put an end to the irregularities and monopoly of importers in the department. However, subordinate officers continue to take illegal measures and offer undue support to the importers.

The department issued a tender last year to procure three giraffes for the Lahore zoo. The tender mentioned that the animals must be captive, but the importers’ lobby bought a wild giraffe from another firm for Rs700,000 and sold it to the wildlife department for Rs2 million.

According to international laws, a computer chip must be embedded in captive animals at the time of export which carries details about its breed, DNA and details of its parents. However, the information is not verified by the department.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 23^rd, 2019.