The court-appointed observers’ findings paint a grim picture. The zoo lacks facilities for basic veterinary procedures, and its clinic is in a state of disrepair, housing broken and rusted equipment. But the status of veterinary facilities and equipment is a moot point when the zoo’s sole veterinarian, despite over 30 years of service, lacks any formal education in wildlife care. How the zoo’s management allowed this to happen and how the country’s veterinary institutes and regulators failed to notice it do not speak well for anyone involved.
The case of the Himalayan brown bear named Rano, which actually led to the current court-ordered investigation, is a glaring example of the farcical failings of the zoo’s management. For several years, the bear was fed a steady diet of milk and bread, neither of which should even have accidentally been left within her reach.
Meanwhile, her pen had not been properly cleaned for two years, and the small pool inside was lined with waste. She was so mentally traumatised that she had been violently headbutting the bars of her pen with her head, leading to a maggot-infested head injury and her eventual relocation to a sanctuary in Islamabad. The skin condition affecting a white tigress at the zoo, and the visible signs of depression and loneliness in its lone surviving chimpanzee, are heartbreaking.
The state of Karachi Zoo is another confirmation that Pakistan’s zoos in general are defined by animal cruelty. The most humane thing to do would arguably be to scale down the zoo, or even close up shop, as Islamabad Zoo did in 2020 due to appalling conditions. Alternatively, the court could order reforms to bring it up to par, but given the laundry list of problems and the fact that our governments have abjectly failed to look after citizens, expecting animals to get proper care is wishful thinking.