The injured female bear at the Karachi Zoological Garden is expected to recover in a few days.
A spokesperson for the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC), Daniyal Siyal, said this while talking to The News on Monday. Responding to reports about wounds in the bear’s head, he clarified that the animal was not suffering from a wound but had developed a swelling on her head after hitting the iron railings of her cage.
“There is no need to call in veterinary specialists from outside. Our zoo doctors are treating her, and Inshallah she will recover soon,” he said. The bear, named Rano, is brown had has been living in solitary confinement at the zoo for many years. Earlier, she shared the famous round enclosure for the bears at the zoo with a black-coloured bear who died a few years ago.
Sources said the swelling appeared at the same spot where Rano earlier suffered an injury possibly from hitting the cage bars. They claimed that the wound had previously become infested due to inadequate care. Treating animals at the zoo is challenging because of unhygienic conditions and the presence of crows that disturb the healing process, said the sources privy to unsatisfactory affairs at the zoo.
Plea withdrawn
The Sindh High Court on Monday dismissed a petition with regard to shifting of Syrian brown bear Rano from the Karachi Zoo to the Balkasar Bear Sanctuary in Chakwal as the petitioner’s counsel said he wanted to file a fresh petition by removing the technical defects in the original plea.
The petition had been filed for safety and welfare of Rano. The petitioner raised questions over the health and well-being of the animal and submitted that recommendations of an expert committee of the zoo were not implemented.
The petition had stated that the expert committee, which comprised qualified experts in wildlife, veterinary care and ecology, had made specific and time-sensitive recommendations, including immediate relocation of the bear to the sanctuary and further steps contingent upon DNA confirmation of her sub-species.
The petitioner had submitted that the zoo administration failed to convene the proposed follow-up meeting at the department of zoology, University of Karachi, and took no substantive measures to implement the committee’s recommendations.
It was stated in the plea that the committee had stated that Rano appeared to be under stress and recommended alternative measures for her on immediate basis and the failure of the respondent to pay heed and implement the same constituted arbitrary and negligent conduct in breach of their statutory duties to ensure animal welfare.
The petition had requested the high court to declare that the continued confinement of the bear in the zoo in a harmful environment constituted unlawful captivity and violation of wildlife protection laws.
As the matter was taken up on Monday, the petitioner’s counsel sought withdrawal of the petition due to some technical defects and said that he would file a fresh petition on the issue. A division bench of the high court headed by Justice Mohammad Iqbal Kalhoro observed that notices had not been issued on the petition, and granted the request by dismissing the petition as withdrawn with the permission to file it afresh.
It is pertinent to mention that the SHC had in December 2020 ordered the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) and the administration of the Karachi Zoo to start the required procedure to shift a cub of the Syrian brown bear species to its new habitat at the zoo. The high court had stated that it was also expected from the zoo administration that they would make sure that all the animals at the zoo were kept in a healthy and safe environment.
