The increasing population of African lions in Lahore Zoo and Safari Park is becoming a problem for administration. These lions are neither being auctioned nor are they being shifted to other zoos in Punjab. There are many other zoos, including Lahore's Wildlife Park, which do not have lions and tigers. In 2016, it was decided to build an enclosure at the Jallu Park. However, the project was yet to be completed, and the enclosures haven’t gotten any lions yet.
At present there are 17 tigers and eight tigresses in the zoo. A similar situation exists in Lahore Safari Zoo which has more than 40 big cats, including African lions.
People visiting these recreational spots also appeared to be disinterested by the large number of tigers.
A visitor, Yamuna Amir, said that the zoo was a great place of recreational activity. However, the number of tigers in the zoo was very high. She said that the administration should also keep other animals in the zoo that were of interest to the people, especially children, so that the zoo could become more attractive. She said that the excessive number of lions should be transferred to other zoos.
Another visitor, Zil-e-Huma, told The Express Tribune that lions were seen everywhere in the Lahore Zoo and Safari Park. The management must sell those tigers and bring in other animals. She said that the chimpanzee's cage had been empty for many years. There was no elephant or giraffe in the zoo either.
Spokesperson and Deputy Director of Lahore Zoo Kiran Saleem said that additional enclosures were also built along with other enclosures in zoos. The purpose of making additional enclosures was that if the number of animals in the zoo exceeded the capacity, they could be shifted to these enclosures.
If we take a look at other zoos of Punjab, there are very few lions and tigers there. Currently there are four African lions and lionesses in DG Khan Zoo, four in Kamalia Zoo, nine in Bahawalpur Zoo and one in Loi Bhir.
Muhammad Ramzan, the spokesperson for Punjab Wildlife, said, "The policy of the institution regarding tigers and other surplus animals is very clear."
The first policy about surplus animals was to give them to other government zoos which didn’t have those animals and in exchange procure other animals from there as substitutes.
At present, Lahore Safari was working on the expansion project of Line Safari, under which more enclosures would be built, while the enclosures in Jallu Park are almost complete. Additional lions would be moved to those two locations.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 11th, 2022.
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