SHC seeks report on health of zoo animals

The Sindh High Court (SHC) has directed the Karachi zoo senior director to submit a report with regard to present condition of animals in the zoo and apprise whether proper food was being given to all the animals in the zoo.

The direction came on a petition calling for providing natural habitat to the animals in the zoo. A division bench of the SHC headed by Justice Mohammad Ali Mazhar observed that despite specific directions, no comments from the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) had been filed to place on record the present condition of animals in the zoo as well as the condition of their cages.

The Karachi zoo senior director submitted that the zoo administration had started to revamp the zoo. The high court observed that the KMC official did not place anything on record and he should also mention in the report whether proper food was being given to all the animals there.

The bench directed the Karachi zoo senior director to submit a report along with coloured photographs of all the cages and animals. The court also issued a notice to the wildlife department conservator for May 26.

Petitioner S Yahya Ahmed, a representative of a non-government organisation, had submitted in the petition that the Karachi zoo administration was primarily responsible for causing significant damage to the animals that were presently kept there.

He said there had been reports of deaths and illness of animals at the zoo but the zoo administration was reluctant to disclose information about health and well-being of the animals. The petitioner maintained that animals at the zoo were being subjected to negligence and inhumane conditions and their treatment was in utter violation and disregard of the Section 3 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1890.

The high court was requested to direct the zoo administration to provide the list of all the existing animals as well as the list of animals that had passed away during the last decade, and disclose all the existing medical record of the animals that were currently and previously residing at the zoo.

The petitioner also requested the SHC to convert the status of the zoo to a wildlife sanctuary and hire an experienced independent veterinary doctor to conduct the health assessment of all the animals there. It is pertinent to mention that in another matter pertaining to a Syrian brown bear, the high court had ordered the KMC and the zoo administration to start the required procedure to shift the cub of the Syrian brown bear to its new habitat at the zoo.