IT seemed that sanity would prevail this year but the end result was quite the opposite. It was earlier reported that no special permits had been awarded this time round for the annual slaughter of the houbara bustard, an endangered migratory bird that is ostensibly protected under Pakistani and international law. However, it now transpires that Arab dignitaries have been awarded at least 27 permits for their wintertime shooting spree in Pakistan.

More here.

KARACHI, Dec 20: Fifteen falcons belonging to a Saudi Arabian dignitary are reported to have been brought to Pakistan recently and sent back to the kingdom after a few days. Falcons are used by hunters, mostly from Arab Gulf states, to hunt the internationally protected houbara bustard for which special hunting permits are issued by the ministry of foreign affairs.

More here.

A recent editorial on the topic of zoos and conservation in Dawn of November 17 is an admirable step toward bringing the animal issue to the lime light, since without such publications the issue can never reach public eyes and be a subject of debate. However, a comment in the editorial that zoos play an important role in the conservation of endangered species is a misleading one. The truth is that the primary motives of zoos are cheap entertainment at the cost of animal exploitation.

Zoos often operate under the guise of conservation, and they notoriously participate in the breeding of exotic animals. Zoos know that nothing brings paying customers through their gates faster than newborn animals. But such breeding programs inevitably result in a surplus of less-crowd-pleasing adult animals. So zoos routinely trade, lend, sell, barter and warehouse adult animals they no longer want. Moreover, many of the species being bred aren’t even endangered or threatened. And the captive-bred species that do face extinction in the wild — including elephants, polar bears, gorillas, tigers, chimpanzees and pandas — will never be released back into their natural environments to bolster dwindling populations because they are denied learned survival skill and in some cases they pickup diseases in captivity that could threaten wild populations. Neither the practice of keeping animals in cages has a positive effect on species preservation.

Zoos do nothing to foster respect for animals in the wild. They are still hunted, poached, encroached upon, culled and captured for display.

Instead of providing lifetime care, zoos shuffle their surplus animals around like checkers on a board — even though many species, including elephants and primates, form deep and lasting bonds that are critical to the animals’ long-term health and happiness. Removing them from established social groups and forcing them to adjust repeatedly to new routines, different caretakers and unfamiliar cage-mates is disruptive and traumatic.

Breeding animals and keeping them in cramped cages causes untold suffering. Last year at the Lahore Zoo, Romeo, a male chimpanzee at the Lahore Zoo attacked his mate, Juliet, and their baby, Pinky. Pinky was born at the zoo while her parents were wild-caught. The zoo’s director admitted that Romeo may have been frightened by the crowd and that the chimp’s cage was “very small.”

A 2006 investigation into the Lahore Zoo found that 13 animals—including some endangered species–had died in one year. The zoo has no emergency treatment or X-ray facilities available. Director Yousaf Pal stated,

life and death are in the hands of the Almighty.

After a devastating earthquake hit Pakistan in December 2005, residents were allowed to free animals from their cages at the Jalalabad Zoo and move into the empty cages. The fate of those animals remains unknown.

Syed Rizvi can be contacted at ESAR01@aol.com

Resources to the zoo debate:

Zoos: Why a Revolution is Necessary to Justify Them
What’s wrong with zoos?
The reality of zoos
Are zoos a necessary evil?
The debate over zoos

Here is the editorial in its entirety:

WILD animals, if they are bred in captivity or made captive through some cruel stroke of fate, ought to be given sanctuary. They need to live in an environment that at least resembles their natural habitat. They can be a source of awe and wonderment for the onlooker but must never be treated as a means of amusement. But visit any zoo in Pakistan and you will see exotic species living – if you can call it that – in cages or concrete enclosures, listless or driven to neurosis, biting off their own tails, pacing about repetitively and plucking plumage in an involuntary frenzy. That is because they are seriously unwell, for the conditions they must endure are enough to drive any living creature insane. Animals in our zoos are poked and prodded by visitors who exemplify all that is callous about this country. Mental well-being aside, zoo animals are also neglected physically by apathetic, incompetent or resource-strapped authorities. Little surprise then that the mortality rate in Pakistan’s zoos is unacceptably high. We should hang our heads in shame because we have failed miserably in catering to the needs of the non-human animals entrusted to our care. Anyone who cages an animal should pause for a second and think how it would feel if the same were done to him or her.

Given our track record, Pakistan does not deserve zoos of any sort, public or private. If the photograph of the leopard languishing in Karachi’s Korangi-Landhi zoo that appeared in this paper a few weeks ago did not break the hearts of all right-thinking people then we have stopped being human. Cognitive skills may differ but animals feel trauma just like we do. What we have in this country are freak shows, not zoos where endangered animals are protected or bred for the propagation of the species. When animals die in our zoos we import replacements, as if they were spare parts, and the cycle of cruelty continues. The choice is clear: we should either run zoos the way they should be or not at all. There can be no middle ground.

The local media has been crying hoarse about captive animal abuse in our zoos for quite some time now. Here are a few reports from DAWN alone:

2002

Oldest bear dies at Lahore zoo

2004

Chimpanzee Tinku dies at Lahore Zoo

Origin unknown

Need to shift Lahore zoo

2005

Another leopard attack

2007

Lahore zoo

Another Lahore zoo tiger dies

13 animals die at Jallo in three months

KARACHI: Zoo death toll mounts

Caring for zoo animals

KARACHI: Disease, cruelty killing zoo animals

HYDERABAD: Another deer dies in zoo

Zoo condition

KARACHI : Another spotted deer dies in zoo

2008

A dying breed

Rani Bagh under threat

Mistreatment of animals at zoo

Karachi Zoo

Animal power, please

Pathetic treatment for animals

Poor state of zoos

HYDERABAD: Death of fourth deer jolts dist govt into action

Condemned to die of neglect

KARACHI: Another blackbuck dies in zoo

KARACHI: Animal exchange programme hits snags: Death of two red deer in Karachi zoo

KARACHI: No induction into zoo museum for three years despite many deaths

Over 80 animals died in capital zoo in 5 years

KARACHI: Animal care still a distant dream

KARACHI: Illegal wild animals trade flourishing

The state of our civilisation

In a September 15 article in DAWN’s Karachian column, Syed Ali Anwar summed it up rather nicely when he wrote about the animal deaths at Karachi Zoo:

The cause of death in most cases has not been or could not be ascertained but one thing is certain: negligence and apathy on the part of the zoo officials has played a major part in the deaths of the animals.

According to reports, three neelgais, three red deer, a Shetland pony (no pony rides), and over 40 partridges have died this year only, whereas last year almost 27 animals, including 12 spotted deer (poor dears), a puma, a black leopard, two Bengal tigresses, six fallow dear fawns, two blue bulls, a blackbuck, a red deer, a jackal, puma and a black leopard died of mysterious blood diseases.

Lack of adequate veterinary and quarantine facilities, unhygienic conditions and unnatural habitats in confinement have also contributed to the deaths of these poor creatures. Karachians, especially the affluent class, must come forward and help revive this 137-year-old recreational facility or soon the Karachi Zoo will be full of empty cages with the land mafia probably hovering like vultures to use this vast tract of land for commercial purposes.

Not only can we not manage the zoos we do have, we are also failing to check the mushrooming growth of dozens of private zoos all over the country. Unless zoo enclosures nationwide are drastically redesigned, and strict standards for captive animal care are chalked up and implemented, the animals will continue to suffer silently, as they have been for so long.

In an ideal world, however, there would be no zoos. According to the Born Free Foundation, an international wildlife charity based in the UK,

wild animals should not be kept in captivity. Born Free works to end captive animal suffering and phase out all zoos and animal circuses.

They also respond to cases of individual animal suffering and intervene with foreign governments to step in and take action. Their website FAQ states:

I am concerned about a wild animal in captivity and want to report it – who do I contact?

Through our Traveller’s Animal Alert campaign please send us an online report. Born Free’s Animal Alert campaign responds to the concerns of individuals, taking action when members of the public send in reports and photos about animal suffering. Animal Alert investigates neglect, fights cruelty and works with tour operators, travel companies, foreign governments and other organisations to take positive action and help improve animals’ lives. Together we investigate notorious facilities, ensure public concerns are addressed, and phase out exploitative activities. Travellers’ Animal AlertSend us your report.

Here’s something that we could all do: Write to the Born Free Foundation on behalf of the leopard in Landi-Korangi Zoo for a start. Go to the zoo, take a few pictures, make a video and share your concerns with them about the welfare of this poor animal. Who knows, they just might head on over to help. In any case, even if they don’t, all that international and national attention towards this one individual animal might shake up the authorities here from their deep slumber.

Please also take this opportunity to send appreciative letters to the editor of DAWN for creating awareness about the plight of animals languishing in our zoos. Send a clear message to zoo directors nationwide about how they need to shape up and seriously rethink the condition of the animals in their care. If they cannot even meet the most basic of animal welfare requirements, then why on earth must they insist on getting more and more animals to fill up the ghastly cages in zoos? Ask them to stop lamenting about the elephant/zebra/giraffe/bear/tiger that they haven’t been able to acquire, and start taking care of the animals they do have for a change.

As the editorial states:

Given our track record, Pakistan does not deserve zoos of any sort, public or private.

The animals cannot speak up for themselves. Your voice can make a difference.

DAWN takes letters at letters@dawn.com

All letters should include the writer’s full name, postal address, e-mail address, and in the case of Pakistan, a day-time telephone number.

Please forward this alert to your friends, family and colleagues.

Full marks to Faiza Ilyas and to the Metropolitan section of Dawn for printing as its lead story on Dec 15 the most depressing and sad tale of the leopard transferred earlier this month from the Safari Park, where for two years she was kept in a turkey cage, to the Korangi-Landhi zoo where she is confined in a somewhat larger cage but subjected to intense maltreatment by visitors who torment her with sticks and stones in an effort to wake her up from her comatose condition. She does nothing but lie in a corner of her cage on a filthy cemented floor.

The aim of this is clear and laudable. Ms Ilyas is pleading for someone or some organisation to come to the rescue of the leopard and save it from its inhumane, uncaring and ignorant jailers.

More here.