Tales Of Tyranny

Pakistan In Picture

Asem Mustafa Awan

They have died in countless numbers due to neglect from people who were hired to look after them and Pakistan hosts a number of zoos both officially and unofficially.

The statues in Islamabad, with their dilapidated state, depict the apathy of authorities who for many years charged people at the zoo but were never there for animals that had moaned and groaned in pain for years.

The Islamabad Zoo is closed, decades of tyranny have ended, and the most notable one was the ‘plight of Kaavan’, the elephant. The animal, a yearling, was received as a presidential gift and was given a presidential pardon after three decades before getting released in a sanctuary abroad.

The world stood up for Kaavan and it was finally evacuated with the help of world-famous music star Cher, who sent her plane for Kaavan’s relocation.

There are many dark secrets that lurk in the zoo, such as how the animals and birds go missing and how they die, but these secrets are the ‘tales of tyranny’, with witnesses having no voice to report but to display their pain with ‘body language’, which few could understand but most opted to leave.

Going to any zoo in Pakistan is a very emotional experience, and children have lasting impressions of their contact with animals and birds.

The people of Pakistan have not forgotten what the incompetent staff was doing in shifting the lion pair which eventually died due to their negligence.

The question is where all this gate money goes, as none of the staff dies due to hunger or otherwise, but it is always the animals that die due to hunger and neglect.

What is the plan that is implemented for their care, what procedures are followed for their well-being, and what is the standard of training for the staff that deals with these creatures? There are so many questions without any answers, as authorities always have no answer and always shift the blame on paucity of funds and lack of training.

How long this vicious circle will continue, only time will tell, but as a whole, the caretakers of the zoo should be held accountable for every creature that dies in their custody, as they are paid to do a job that is never done.

The death of Elephant Noor Jehan in Karachi made international headlines besides the blind lioness which luckily is still alive, but the death of a white lion in the same zoo some time back was a heart-breaking sight. The creature breathed its last in extreme agony and how this magnificent animal reached that state, if investigated, can unearth many details that to date have remained secret.

The writer is a journalist based in Islamabad and writes on a wide range of issues.

Photo Credit: Sohail Shahzad