More animals to be brought to Karachi Zoo, says Wahab

Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) Administrator Barrister Murtaza Wahab on Thursday said the government wanted to make the Karachi Zoo a wholesome entertainment place for the citizens where quality food as well as wide opportunities for recreation are available.

He said this while paying a visit to the zoo in the morning. "The construction of a food street in the zoo is in the final stages. A special selfie zone has been made by installing colorful umbrellas on the food street so that citizens can come here and enjoy the colourful environment,” said Wahab, who is also the spokesperson for the Sindh government and adviser to the Sindh chief minister on law.

New enclosures, he said, were being constructed for animals to keep them in a natural environment. A strategy had been adopted to complete the development work at the zoo on time, he added.

The Karachi administrator reviewed the new enclosures made for animals and other developmental works in different parts of the zoo. He issued directives for improving sanitation at the zoo.

He announced that a route to the Mughal garden at the zoo would also be made from the food street. “It is not only a zoological garden established in 1878 but also an excellent botanical garden where 200-year-old rare trees exist,” he explained.

A new parking area had been constructed in the zoo for the convenience of citizens, he said, adding that the gate number five of the zoo had been reconstructed. He said that a pair of brass lions donated by the Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain had been installed at the food street, reviving the citizens' memories of these sculptures.

The KMC administrator announced that new animals would also be brought to the zoo to make it a zoological garden of international standards. He explained that the area of the Karachi Zoo was about 33 acres, 40 per cent of which was reserved for animals, birds and marine life that were kept in 117 cages.

He added that the remaining 60 per cent of the zoo was based on lawns, ponds, Mughal garden, canteens, amusement parks and other entertainment places. “The pond in the zoo has also been renovated where boats also run for the people visiting the zoo,” he said.

The KMC administrator said that an animal hospital and a fish aquarium had also been constructed there. He added that the corporation spent a huge amount of money on the zoo in the heads of animal feed, medicine, maintenance and repair works, and wages. KMC Senior Director Recreation Syed Raza Abbas Rizvi, Director Zoo Rashid Ali, Deputy Director Abida Raees and other officers were also present on the occasion.