Govt to ban keeping wildlife animals in poor conditions

Islamabad:The federal government is likely to introduce a law in coordination with the provincial governments to impose ban on keeping wildlife animals privately in poor conditions.

According to the details, Head of Prime Minister of Pakistan’s Strategic Reforms Salman Sufi has stated that he would hold a meeting with Minister for Climate Change Sherry Rehman to discuss the issue of pet wild animals.

He said the government is considering to seizing all wildlife animals being held privately in unsuitable living conditions, adding “We are also planning for repatriation wildlife animals to suitable countries for their rehabilitation.”

It is pertinent to mention here that the administration of Lahore Zoo has shelved its plan to auction off a dozen lions to private individuals to free up space and earn handsome money as well.

Currently, the zoo has capacity for 15 to 20 lions in cages but it has 40 carnivores including 29 African lions, three white lions, two jaguars and six tigers. The record showed that the Punjab Forest and Wildlife Department has already taken notice of complaints regarding private citizens keeping lions inside their homes.

There is no law in Pakistan to prohibit the possession of a wild imported animal but it is prohibited to keep any animal or bird after capturing it from the forest. The wildlife departments may check whether any of these species, including lions and tigers, have been purchased from local breeding centres or imported from abroad.

Keeping lions or tigers at home is a growing trend and some consider it a status symbol. Now even common people are latching onto the craze for keeping wild lions as pets, often putting the animals in cages. The experts are of the view that wild animals like lions and tigers should not be allowed inside homes, nor can these animals be kept as pets.