The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Tuesday ordered shifting Rano from the Karachi Zoo to the bear sanctuary managed by the Islamabad Wildlife Management Board (IWMB), as the brown bear is without a companion, who had died way back in 2020.
The direction came on a petition, filed for Rano’s safety and welfare, which sought shifting her from the Karachi Zoo to the Balkasar Bear Sanctuary in Chakwal. The petitioner raised questions over her health and well-being, saying that the recommendations of an expert committee of the zoo were not implemented.
An SHC division bench headed by Justice Mohammad Iqbal Kalhoro took exception to the inadequate conditions for keeping the bear at the zoo, and asked the zoo’s senior director how Rano can be kept in such a condition.
The court asked that considering her health, why he did not move the bear to a better place. The bench said the bear has been kept in one place for seven years without any proper habitat, asking what the fault of the speechless animal is.
The director said Rano’s condition is stable, and not as portrayed by the petitioner’s counsel. He said the zoo administration has relocated Rano to a bigger cage, where the necessary facilities are being provided.
The court asked if he had conducted any research on how much space a bear needs. He said a team of veterinary doctors can be formed to examine Rano’s health. If the bear is shifted, it will impact the residents’ entertainment avenues, he added.
The bench said animals cannot be kept in cages for people’s entertainment, adding that animals are kept in their natural environment all over the world. The court said that keeping animals in such conditions for human entertainment is the height of cruelty.
The SHC said the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) must know that we are living in the 21st century, and we should act civilised and with empathy. The court said animals are not a source of entertainment, and they should be kept in national parks, jungles or forests, adding that cruelty to animals is also forbidden in Islam.
The bench did not agree with the request of the director, saying that it would not form any committee, and Rano should be relocated to a bear sanctuary in Islamabad within two days. The court directed the KMC to cooperate with wildlife department officials, and ensure that safe transfer of the bear takes place through air cargo under the supervision of the wildlife department conservator within two days without fail.
The bench warned that in case of failure, the zoo’s senior director should be present in person on the next date of hearing to explain non-compliance with the SHC’s order. The petitioner’s counsel Jibran Nasir said the expert committee report had unanimously found the brown bear to be under stress, and had recommended her immediate relocation to the Chakwal sanctuary until her DNA sequencing was conducted to identify her exact species.
Nasir said the expert committee, which comprised qualified experts in wildlife, veterinary care and ecology, had made specific and time-sensitive recommendations, including Rano’s immediate relocation to the sanctuary, and further steps contingent upon the DNA confirmation of her sub-species.
In December 2020 the SHC had ordered the KMC and the zoo administration to start the required procedure to shift a Syrian brown bear cub to its new habitat at the zoo. The court had said that it was also expected from the zoo administration that they would make sure that all the animals at the zoo are kept in a healthy and safe environment.