SWD to issue ‘first ever’ certificate for big cats lovers

Owner will have to meet 33 conditions of Sindh Wildlife Protection Act

KARACHI:

The Sindh Wildlife Department (SWD), in compliance with a Sindh High Court order, will be issuing the first ever certificate for the lawful possession of big cats in the province to a citizen, Zohaib Ali, The Express Tribune learnt on Wednesday.

On August 13 last year, lions, possessed by Ali, were spotted freely roaming in a walled compound in Gulshan-e-Hadeed. The sighting had created panic among the residents of Gulshan-e-Hadeed and Gulshan-e-Muazzam, who had called SWD officials to the site.

Later, the animals were relocated to a safer place and Ali was instructed to immediately get advertisements published in newspapers for the sale of the lions.

Ali, a resident of Garden, had brought the big cats to Karachi in 2018 and wanted to sell them after breeding.

In accordance with the court order, he applied to the SWD for a legal permit for the possession of lions.

Until now, the SWD, despite having the information that over 100 big cats were kept in illegal possession in Karachi, has been unable to take any action against the illegal possession of big cats due to flaws in the law.

However, following the court order, citizens are now bound to get a permit from the SWD for the possession of big cats and keep them in favourable environments.

According to SWD assistant conservator Mumtaz Soomro, the first ever certificate for the possession of big cats will be issued to Ali.

"I don't think any such permit has even been issued anywhere the country," he said.

Read: SWD launches probe into leopard’s killing

The certificate

Those who get the permit, or the certificate for the lawful possession of big cats, are required to meet 33 conditions under Section 49 of the Sindh Wildlife Protection, Preservation, Conservation and Management Act, 2020.

Certificate holder are entitled to possess only those big cats that are fit for captive breeding and has to ensure proper housing and hygiene for the felines and their safety and security. The owners of big cats are also required to make his or her felines under DNA barcoding. The HEJ Research Institute of Chemistry at the University of Karachi, Aga Khan University Punjab Forensic Laboratory ad Bio-Resource Research Center Islamabad are eligible to issue DNA certification.

Moreover, the permit bars one from keeping big cats in residential areas and applicants have to acquire a non-objection certificates from the relevant union council, town committee and cantonment board. Besides, the de-knuckling and de-clogging of big cats remains strictly prohibited, and so their displacement to public place, processions, gatherings, circuses and electronic and print media, as well as traveling with then in vehicles.

Cross breeding is also strictly prohibited and no captive big cat is to be released in the wild. In case a person releases a big cat in the wild, he or she will have to pay Rs1 million in fine and in case of any complaint from a neighbourhood sharing the boundary wall of the street where a big act is kept, the permit holder will be responsible to redress the grievances.

The permit holder is eligible to apply for the export of his exotic big cats, subject to observance of rules and fulfillment of provisions of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.

Applicants has to have at least an area of 400 square yards for housing big cats and 50 per cent of the said area should be used for vegetation. There should be two rooms, each a minimum size of 10ft x 10ft x 8ft.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 15^th, 2021.