Captive death

The death of a white lion in the Karachi Zoo owing to poor health has reignited the debate surrounding the existence of these open-air prisons and the large scale, crime-less incarceration of exotic animals but also of our troubling nature of torturing animals for sport. The lion, who had arrived at the enclosure nearly 10 years ago from Africa, was found to have died as a result of pneumonia. Pictures of the animal showed the rapid deterioration his health had undergone in recent months. Karachi Administrator Murtaza Wahab, who had visited the zoo just a month ago, has suspended officials at the zoo pending an inquiry into the matter.

The real question in this unfortunate incident is not whether there was pilferage of resources meant for the animals or any shortage of feed or even negligence of veterinary staff at the zoo. The question is: why do we continue to subject animals to the apathy of humans — whether by caging them and then watching their slow deaths in captivity or shooting dogs in the streets or hunting partridges in the thickets? Why do we not care for life? Why have we become so bloodthirsty that we treat weekend trips to the concentration camps called zoos as a triumphant excursion of superiority?

A visit on any holiday will show how people of all ages mistreat and abuse animals. One would be forgiven for thinking why certain beings are on the wrong side of metal bars. Just a few months ago we saw the closure of the zoo in Islamabad. Writing in his order, the Islamabad High Court’s chief justice stated that animals had been created to roam free in their natural habitat but humans imprisoned them without having committed a crime, just for entertainment. Noting that animals too enjoy the right to be treated with dignity and respect, the honourable judge had ordered shutting down the zoo and hoped it would set a precedent. Alas, this carcass reminds us how we failed!

 

Published in The Express Tribune, November 29^th, 2021.

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