High-level panel to decide Kaavan’s fate

Eight-member body to submit proposals in 3 weeks

ISLAMABAD: Following the court’s decision to shift the elephant at the zoo in the federal capital to a sanctuary, the Islamabad Wildlife Management Board (IWMB) on Monday formed an eight-member, high-level committee.

The committee will formulate recommendations apart from deciding on whether the pachyderm, Kaavan, will be moved to a shelter in the country or abroad.

In this regard, the IWMB Chairman Dr Anisur Rehman issued a notification on Monday about the committee. A copy of the notice was submitted to the IHC as well.

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The committee will be led by World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Pakistan Senior Programmes Director Rab Nawaz. It will include Biodiversity Specialist Professor ZB Mirza as co-chairman, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Wildlife Conservator Dr Mohsin Farooq, Islamabad Zoo Veterinary Officer Dr Bilal Khilji, and Ex-curator Bahawalpur Zoo Dr Masoodul Haq. It will also include three foreign animal experts including Save the Elephant’s Relocation Vet Dr Tom Channarong Srisa-Ard, WWF-US’ Nilanga Jayasinghe and Save the Elephant’s Derek Thompson.

Further, the committee will have three weeks to finalise its recommendations.

According to the terms of reference (TORs) of the committee, included in the notification, there is currently no sanctuary in Pakistan that can house elephants.

The committee, however, will now decide whether a sanctuary can be built in Pakistan according to Kaavan’s needs, its parameters and who will manage it.

If not and Kaavan needs to be sent abroad, which country has the sanctuary best suited to the pachyderm.

The committee will also have to decide the time frame for relocating the elephant from the zoo to the sanctuary.

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Moreover, the committee will have to decide where to move all the other animals at the zoo until a facility meeting international standards can be constructed in the federal capital.. The animals at the zoo include 89 mammals representing 15 species, 769 birds of 38 different species while there are 20 reptiles belonging to three distinct species.

On these animals as well, the committee will have to present recommendations whether the animals can be kept in Pakistan or if they will have to be moved abroad and to which sanctuary.

On May 25, IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah in a landmark judgement had ruled that the zoo in the federal capital was not fit to hold animals and that all animals within it need to be relocated to sanctuaries.

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“This court has no hesitation in declaring that the treatment of Kaavan for more than three decades and his current status has subjected him to unnecessary pain and suffering,” the court said.

It subsequently directed the IWMB chairman to make arrangements, “preferably in consultation with and the consent of the High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to relocate Kaavan to a suitable sanctuary within 30 days.”

Published in The Express Tribune, June 9^th, 2020.