Zubair Qureshi
A team of the global animals welfare organization, Four Paws International is arriving in Islamabad today (Friday) for treatment of bears currently staying at the Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation Centre (old Marghazar Zoo).
Dr Amir Khalil, Director Reveal & Rescue Response of the Four Paws is the team lead. Among other vets include Dr Marina Ivanova, Dr Frank Goritz and others on a mission to examine and treat the bears and make arrangements for their permanent stay in a friendly environment in the wildlife rehab centre.
These bears were rescued from different cities and are currently in the custody of the Islamabad Wildlife Management Board (IWMB). They were used for the purpose of dancing and their masters had subjected them to maltreatment including pulling out their teeth, etc.
“We have eight bears currently. They have been rescued by the wildlife department in the cities of Gujranwala, Bahwalnagar and others,” said Rina Saeed Khan Chairperson of the IWMB while talking to Pakistan Observer. These vets have rich experience in treatment of the bears and therefore we contacted them to help and guide us on how we can ensure a friendly environment for these poor creatures,” she said.
They will also help us create space where we can keep these animals permanently in the centre, she said. We need to make room for them in the existing space, she further said.
The treatment also includes castration of some bears, one of the members of the Four Paws said. Friday will be the day mostly devoted to examination of the animals and taking stock of the current situation and existing space for them, he further said.
Dr Amir Khalil is quite well known in Pakistan. Earlier, in 2020 he spent three months in the Marghazar Zoo to rescue and transport the world’s loneliest elephant’ Kavan’ from Islamabad to Cambodia. He has also been working with Karachi Municipal Corporation for treatment and transportation of female elephants from the Karachi Zoo to Safari Park. However, the mission was halted due to the death of one of the two elephants and then because of the recent elections and now awaits a formal nod from the Mayor of Karachi.
