Peshawar Zoo lacks lab to examine animals

A probe into the causes of nine animals dying at the Peshawar Zoo over the past year has failed to ascertain the root cause because there is no forensic laboratory in the province, let alone a lab at the zoo.

This was stated by the Provincial Minister for Forest Environment and Wildlife Ishtiaq Urmar on Monday while answering a question asked by MPA Rihana Ismail in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Assembly session on Monday.

Some nine wild animals died in the zoo during the past year, he said, adding that the animals suffered from different diseases that couldn’t be examined properly due to the absence of a laboratory.

The minister said that the government was taking measures to overcome the problem. Urmar said that the government had banned the visitors from pelting stones at the animals.

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