Foreign vets expected to visit Karachi zoo next week

Director says some improvement in elephant Noor Jehan's health

KARACHI:

The health of Noor Jahan, the sick African elephants, has not improved yet despite efforts taken by the administration of the Karachi zoo.

The administration said on Wednesday that the health of the elephant was improving after the medicine recommended by the foreign vets who carried out a tusk surgery on the animal in August last year.

"Yes, she is sick," confirmed Karachi Municipal Corporation (KMC) Senior Director Khalid Hashmi. But her health is improving slowly, he added.

The 17-year-old African-origin elephant appeared to be in pain as she stood and rubbed her head against the tree planted in the middle of the enclosure.

Visitors to the zoo expressed alarm at her gait. "It seems all her weight is on her two legs," Shumaila Mehmood, a visitor, commented while making a video of the animal.

Foreign vets

The zoo administration says it has been in contact with a team of Four Paws, a Vienna-based animal welfare organization. The veterinarians associated with Four Paws will arrive in Karachi next week, they said.

Another team from Lahore is expected to visit the zoo as well. "We are in contacts with all the best doctors in Pakistan and abroad," Hashmi said. He said that the medicine was being given to the elephants in line with prescriptions provided by foreign vets.

Interestingly, the syringes used in the elephant's treatment had to be acquired from Austria, sources at the zoo told The Express Tribune.

Relocation issue

The team of foreign vets had recommended last year that both African elephants - Noor Jehan and Madhubala - should immediately be relocated as the enclosure was not fit for their health.

It was also learnt that at least four letters have been written to the administration of Safari Park, some 18 km from Karachi Zoo, to set up an area for the elephants.

"Nothing has been done so far," a senior official disclosed. "It is just correspondence and no one is concerned about the welfare of the poor animals," he added.

"The elephants are in this condition because of the tug of war among officials," he explained.

Food shortage

Sindh Local Government Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah, during his second visit to the zoo on Tuesday, denied claims that there was shortage of food for animals at the zoo. He said he was personally monitoring the situation. He also confirmed that the foreign vets were expected to visit the zoo.

"There is no shortage of food and funds," Hashmi said. He said that such issue had never happened. "We have enough funds and the food supply has not even been stopped," he added.

Following videos of the sick elephants, there were reports that the contractor had stopped supplying food to the zoo as the in-charge was demanding bribes.

On Saturday, Sindh Governor Kamran Tessori and Shah visited the zoo and directed the administration to ensure regular food supply to animals.

The photos shared with Tessori on daily basis confirmed the enough food for different animals and birds was being supplied.

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto junior

On Tuesday morning, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Jr visited the zoo and shared some videos and photos on his social media accounts.

On Wednesday, he writes on his twitter account that: "Finally [I] was able to meet Noor Jehan and Madhu Bala at Karachi Zoo. The zoo is understaffed and under-funded - there is no malicious intent on the part of the staff. Rather the system is flawed: zoos are where animals die lonely deaths."

In another tweet he said that: "a Himalayan Brown Bear paces anxiously, bored out his/her mind. Unsure what to do in this tiny enclosure." Fatima Bhutto, his sister, also twitted that: "The Sindh government is so corrupt and incompetent they cannot even manage Karachi Zoo. It is an enclosure of suffering and death, no life no dignity."

Published in The Express Tribune, March 30^th, 2023.