Saturday, April 22, 2023

RIP
Ailing elephant which evoked a wave of public sympathy dies in Karachi zoo


The pachyderm had undergone surgery after videos of the sick and struggling Noor Jehan in her enclosure had gone viral on social media

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Veterinarians examine Noor Jehan at the Karachi Zoo on April 18, 2023. Photo: AFP (AFP)

An ailing elephant at a Pakistan zoo died on Saturday, vets said, calling on the menagerie to evacuate her “mourning” partner to avert a second tragedy.

Named after Noor Jehan, the queen of the fourth 17th-century Mughal emperor Jehangir, the 17-year-old pachyderm was operated on by foreign veterinarians last week at Karachi Zoo but did not recover properly, with her condition worsening to an alarming extent, Kanwar Ayub, the director of Karachi Zoo, told Anadolu.

Noor Jehan, which was brought to Karachi Zoo along with three other elephants some 13 years ago, was mainly suffering from a huge hematoma, or a pool of clotted blood, inside her abdomen in addition to intestinal issues.

Earlier this week, she had fallen into a pond and could not pull herself out due to her weak hind legs, badly affected by the illnesses she had been suffering from for months, apparently because of inadequate care and treatment.

Later, on the recommendation by Four Paws, a global animal welfare organisation, the zoo staff used a crane, ropes and belts to pull her out.

She was one of the last four captive elephants in Pakistan, all in Karachi, including two at the zoo.

A video of Noor Jehan showing her limping and struggling to stand, apparently due to weakness, went viral on social and mainstream media last week, sparking a public outcry and calls for shutting down the zoo.

“It saddens us immensely that Noor Jehan’s story came to a heartbreaking ending. We would like to thank everyone who worked day and night during these challenging times to try and give Noor Jehan a chance at survival.

“We hope the authorities in Pakistan will take Noor Jehan’s sad fate as an example and do better for captive wild animals in the country in the future,” Four Paws said, welcoming the government’s decision to consider closing down Karachi Zoo permanently.

A team of Austrian and Egyptian vets was scheduled to arrive in Karachi next week to assess Noor Jehan’s condition.

(AFP)

Four Paws had also arranged the transfer of 36-year-old Kaavan, the country’s “loneliest” elephant, to a wildlife sanctuary in Cambodia in November 2020 to spend its remaining years following a years-long campaign by animal lovers from across the globe.

Animal rights groups have long been blaming the zoo management, which is already understaffed and without trained vets, for neglect and maltreatment that has resulted in the deaths of several wild animals in recent years.

The veterinarians have already suggested shifting Madhubala, now the only elephant at Karachi Zoo, to “specific species housing,” fearing that she might suffer a similar fate due to “inappropriate” conditions at the facility.

Last year, an Austrian veterinarian team operated on Madhubala, an 18-year-old elephant named after a legendary Indian actress, to relieve her pain caused by a broken tusk infection.

Endorsing the suggestion, Ayub said that arrangements are being made to relocate Madhubala to the city’s only Safari Park, where another two elephants are living in an “adequate environment.”

In April 2020, a court ordered the only zoo in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad to shut down after poor facilities and mistreatment of the animals there were revealed.

Source: TRTWorld and agencies

Pakistan elephant dies, leaving ‘mourning’ partner in limbo

Zoo staff stand near the dead body of elephant Noor Jehan at an enclosure in Karachi Zoological Gardens in Karachi on April 22, 2023
. (AFP)

AFP
Published: 22 April ,2023

An ailing elephant at a Pakistan zoo died on Saturday, vets said, calling on the ill-equipped menagerie to evacuate her “mourning” partner to avert a second tragedy.

Pakistan’s zoos are frequently accused of being blase about animal welfare, and the plight of Noor Jehan was cited by animal rights activists campaigning to shut the wildlife exhibition in southern Karachi city.

This month the 17-year-old African elephant underwent emergency treatment for a tumor which had crippled her back legs, but while in recovery she became trapped in her enclosure’s pool.

Zoo workers hauled out the 3.5-ton pachyderm but she was unable to stand and lay stricken for nine days, “a life-threatening situation for elephants,” said animal charity Four Paws International.

Experts were considering euthanasia but before a decision was taken “she suc-cumbed to her critical condition,” said a statement from the charity, which organ-ised last-ditch medical efforts to save her.

Karachi Zoo director Kanwar Ayub confirmed Noor Jehans death on Saturday and an AFP reporter saw her caretaker openly weeping outside her enclosure.

“It’s very sad,” said Four Paws International’s Austria-based chief vet Amir Khalil. “Noor Jehan deserved a chance.”

But the deceased elephant's pen pal Madhubala “should not have the same fu-ture,” he told AFP, saying he plans to arrive in Pakistan on Sunday to assess her health and organize her evacuation.

“Karachi Zoo does not fulfil international standards and is not equipped to take appropriate care of elephants,” the Four Paws International statement said, ex-pressing support for a forced closure.

“It is now more urgent than ever that the remaining elephant, who is mourning her long-time companion, is transferred to a more species-appropriate location as soon as possible, to prevent another potential tragedy.”

In April 2020, a court ordered the only zoo in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad to shut after poor facilities and mistreatment of the animals there were revealed.

The facility had drawn international condemnation for its treatment of an Asian elephant named Kaavan, who was later airlifted to retirement in Cambodia in a project spearheaded by US popstar and actor Cher, and carried out by Four Paws.




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