Suzie and Bubloo set off for Jordan

The Himalayan bears were relocated following IHC's recent order to ensure a healthier, better life

ISLAMABAD:

Suzie and Bubloo, the two rare breed brown bears, were flown to Jordan from the Islamabad Margahazar Zoo on Thursday following relocation orders given by the Islamabad High Court (IHC).

The IHC had ordered the zoo management to safely transfer the rare breed bears to the Middle Eastern nation to lead a healthier life in a better environment.

Sources at the Islamabad airport told The Express Tribune that Bubloo and Suzie were sent via Qatar Airline flight 633.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) made special arrangements at the Islamabad airport for the safe transfer of the bears.

A special team of the international animal rights organisation Four Paws was also present on the occasion to oversee the transfer of the pair.

PHOTO: EXPRESS

The two Himalayan bears are the second animals to be transferred from the zoo after Pakistan's only Asian elephant, Kaavan, was transferred to Cambodia late last month.

Suzie and Bubloo's transfer came after the IHC disposed of a contempt of court petition on December 15 against the board managing the Islamabad Zoo and the climate change ministry after it was told that the two Himalayan bears at the facility will be relocated to a sanctuary in Jordan.

In a six-page order penned by IHC CJ Athar Minallah, the court noted that the Islamabad Wildlife Managment Board (IWMB), in a meeting of its board on December 11, had deliberated the relocation of the two Himalayan brown bears to an appropriate sanctuary. After taking suggestions from experts, the wildlife board decided to relocate them to an appropriate sanctuary in Jordan till a facility can be established that will meet their behavioural, physiological and social needs.

CJ Minallah wrote in the order that the natural habitat of the bears was the high altitude plains of the Deosai National Park in the Himalayas. He added that it was inhumane to keep the bears deprived of living in their natural habitat merely for public entertainment.

“They have remained caged in the Marghazar Zoo for over a decade,” he noted, adding, “A zoo, no matter how well equipped, is no less than a concentration camp for living beings.”