IHC tells MoCC to solve bears relocation issue

Balkasar sanctuary management says Chakwal’s climate too hot for the beasts

ISLAMABAD:

A private bear sanctuary has been directed to cooperate with the government and adopt a bear who is kept at the Islamabad Zoo.

This was directed on Thursday by a single-member bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC), led by Chief Justice Athar Minallah, as he heard a case on the poor treatment of animals at the zoo and shifting them to sanctuaries.

The Balksar Bear Sanctuary Administrator Dr Fakhare Abbas appeared before the court on Thursday. He told the court that the sanctuary could not take the bears, explaining that they were not well and were under the care of a German vet. Moreover, these brown bears were from an extremely cold region, therefore the environment of the Potohar region was not feasible for them.

The court expressed its annoyance at the refusal of bear sanctuary’s management to render shelter to the brown bears despite court orders.

IHC orders shifting of zoo animals to sanctuaries

“Our heads hang in shame,” Chief Justice Minallah said, adding that giraffes which were imported for the zoo have already died.

Holding the Ministry of Climate Change (MoCC) responsible for the cruelty towards animals at the Islamabad Zoo, the court said that MoCC was only doing politics on the issue, while animals, who cannot protest nor narrate their plight, continue to suffer.

Dr Abbas said that the bears were safer at the zoo than at sanctuary, adding that its area was quite small when compared to the zoo.

CJ Minallah conceded that Balksar was a private entity, however, he said that it should cooperate with the government.

With these remarks, the court directed the MoCC to resolve the issue of shifting the brown bears with the sanctuary’s management and inform the court about the progress made by August 3.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 31^st, 2020.