Zubair Qureshi
In pursuance of the
Islamabad High Court
(IHC) orders, three wolves, seven monkeys—two rhesus, five vervet —and 17 rabbits have been shifted to Ayub Park sanctuary for animals in Rawalpindi from Marghazar Zoo of Islamabad.
Chief Justice of the IHC Athar Minallah had ordered relocation of all animals from the zoo of Islamabad in May this year after two lions and several other animals were reportedly killed because of zoo administration’s negligence.
Chief Justice Athar Minallah was so furious on the death of animals that he initiated proceedings against Islamabad Wildlife Management Board (IWMB) officials, Minister for climate change Ministry which is the incharge ministry of the zoo and the federal secretary.
A team of the international group for animals welfare, Four Paws International, is in the city to assess the animals’ health, particularly that of Kaavan the lone Asian elephant and his fitness for its relocation to Cambodian elephants sanctuary.
A day earlier (on Friday) the chief justice had requested the head of the Four Paws team Dr Amir Khalil to brief the court on Kaavan’s health and help the court reach some decision.
The court will resume hearing now on Monday (tomorrow) Sept 28.
On the same day, the court will likely announce decision on Kaavan’s relocation to Cambodia.
The three-member team—two other members being Marion Lombard and Velizar Angelov—are shuttling between Islamabad and Rawalpindi these days shifting animals and monitoring their health & wellbeing.
In their work they are of course assisted by the workers of the Islamabad Wildlife Management Board (IWMB) and volunteers of the Friends of Islamabad Zoo (FIZ).
“There were three wolves, two male and one female, besides monkeys and rabbits that we have relocated to their new abode in Ayub Park,” said Dr Amir Khalil while talking to Pakistan Observer.
Now only two bears are left in the zoo besides the elephant, he said.
According to Chairman of the IWMB Dr Anisur Rehman, neither Punjab nor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) was ready to take the two brown Himalayan bears that are currently being kept in the Marghazar Zoo in poor conditions.
These bears were rescued by the IWMB Islamabad from their captors as they were being used for entertainment purpose and their captors had removed their teeth.
About the bears, he said one was male and one was female. They are apparently 17 years old and the female bear is sick and operated and overall they are in better conditions.
