Zubair Qureshi
President Dr Arif Alvi on Wednesday commended efforts of the Four Paws International and the Islamabad Wildlife Management Board (IWMB) in making possible relocation of the lone Asian elephant of the Murghazar Zoo “Kaavan” to Cambodia’s elephants’ sanctuary and the two Himalayan brown bears to Jordan.
In a meeting with the representatives of the Four Paws International and the IWMB who called on him at the Aiwan-e-Sadr the president hoped they would complete the task [of shifting the animals from the zoo] without any problem and assured them the government’s full cooperation in this regard.
The delegation was led by PTI Member National Assembly (MNA), Najeeb Haroon, and comprised other members including Director of Project Four Paws Dr Amir Khalil, IWMB Chairman Dr Anisur Rehman, Dr Marina Ivanova, Marion Lombard, Owais Awan Advocate and Umer Haroon.
Dr Alvi said Islam as well as Pakistan’s laws forbade any kind of bad treatment/torture of animals and added it was a pity that Kaavan, the lone Asian elephant faced bad time at the Islamabad Murghazar Zoo. We need to change people’s mindset towards animals and birds, he said.
MNA of the ruling party Najeeb Haroon thanked the president for his kind remarks and updated him on the latest development in this regard.
Dr Amir Khalil informed the president that relocation of two brown bears to Jordan was a matter of days. They will be sent to the Princess Alia Foundation Al Ma’awa for Nature and Wildlife, Amman, Jordan, he said. About Kaavan, Dr Amir said the elephant would be relocated to Cambodia’s Elephants Wildlife Sanctuary. This is going to be the world’s first and the biggest-ever relocation of an elephant that weighs 5.5 tons from one country to another as the flight time is about 7-and-a-half hours, he further told.
The shifting of animals is taking place after a global outcry to save Kaavan. These animals are currently kept in the Murghazar Zoo of Islamabad and the international animals’ welfare organization Four Paws International is looking after them with the cooperation of the Islamabad Wildlife Management Board (IWMB). Dr Anisur Rehman told the president that the Ministry of Climate Change (MCC) had issued CITES permit for the export of bears while the permit for Kaavan will also be issued in due course of time. The president also lauded IWMB’s chairman for extending full cooperation to the Four Paws in this noble cause. In May this year, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice Athar Minallah had ordered relocation of all the animals from the zoo as it was found they were being treated harshly and there was no end to their miseries in the zoo.
