EDITORIAL: An African elephant, Noor Jehan, has been the star attraction in Karachi zoo until she became critically ill, and a few days ago fell down in the pond in her desolate enclosure. 17 years old, she is only a teenager since elephants have the same life span in the wild as humans have.

Thanks to the efforts of local volunteers and assistance provided by an international animal welfare group, Four Paws, Noor Jehan was lifted by a crane, using a special harness, out of the pond and given necessary medicines, fluids and multivitamins.

Her condition is said to be improving as she tries to walk, though, still unable to maintain balance. Sadly, captive animals are routinely mistreated in this country.

A couple of years ago, another elephant, Kaavan, in Islamabad’s Marghzar Zoo drew extensive attention for the wrong reason. Left alone after his partner, Saheli’s death a decade earlier and his legs wounded from chains, he had started to behave in a dangerous manner. Which is when the Four Paws and a famous American pop singer, Cher, came to Kaavan’s rescue and he was flown to a sanctuary in Cambodia to be in the company of others of his kind.

Like humans elephants are sentient social animals needing companionship. In the wild, they live in tightly bound herds, and lend a shoulder to one another in difficult situations. They also mourn the death of a herd member in a special ritual.

According to experts, elephants walk at least 6 kilometres a day. It is plain cruelty to keep these sensitive magnificent animals in chains in boring and barren zoo enclosures for the entertainment of people.

Kaavan’s example shows how loneliness can drive an elephant into depressive disorder. There are many other animals in our zoos such as giraffes, zebras and ostriches who have lost their partners, and suffer in isolation from others of their species. No less stressful conditions are for birds confined to cramped cages.

A usual argument in favour of zoos has been that they are meant for educational and research purposes. That argument does not hold anymore.

Researchers and adventure seekers watch and film animals in their natural habitats, and put the visuals on TV screens for anyone interested to see them. There is no justification whatsoever to put them in prisons called zoos. An increasing trend now is to keep them in sanctuaries designed like their natural environments, providing them freedom to do whatever they do in the wild.

Noor Jehan’s plight has moved the Federal Minister for Climate Change Sherry Rehman to urge her party’s government in Sindh to close down the Karachi zoo and shift the animals to a sanctuary. Hopefully, that will happen as soon as possible.

But it must be ensured that the zoo, spread over 33 acres of land, does not fall prey to the greed of real estate developers. All of it should be turned into a botanical garden as that too would serve educational and research purpose.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023