Ailing elephant sparks debate on Karachi Zoo’s future

The 152-year-old Karachi Zoo, for quite some time, has been in the headlines for being a "terrible place" for wild creatures, with many calling for shutting it down and moving the animals to sanctuaries.

The debate was sparked by the lingering misery of ailing elephant Noor Jehan that is currently being treated by foreign veterinarians for a variety of medical conditions that she reportedly developed due to months of inadequate care and treatment.

She is one of the last four captive elephants in Pakistan, all of them in Karachi, including two at the zoo.

A video of Noor Jehan showing her limping and struggling to stand apparently due to weakness went viral on social and mainstream media last week, sparking a public outcry.

Supporters of the call to shut down the zoo, including Minister for Climate Change Senator Sherry Rehman and Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari, have urged the government to shut down the zoo as it lacks the capacity to care for the wild animals.

"Karachi Zoo should be shut down because it is clearly beyond the capacity of KMC," Bakhtawar said in a tweet, referring to the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation, which runs the zoological garden.

A hashtag #Free animals -- shut down Karachi zoo# remains a popular trend on Twitter, with many calling for the animals to be taken to sanctuaries to save their lives, as the zoo administration is seen as incapable of caring for them.

Others are calling for converting the zoo into a botanical garden, cautioning that a "land mafia" has long been eyeing the prime land to add more high-rises to an already growing concrete jungle in the metropolis.

Faiyaz Alam, a Karachi-based social activist who also served as a coordinator at Karachi Zoo from 2003 to 2004, said "greedy" land developers have long been eyeing the city’s prime land.