DG Khan Zoo Fails to Solve Fatal ‘Bitter Water’ Problem
Animal rights activists in Islamabad and Lahore are appalled at Dera Ghazi (DG) Khan Zoo’s prolonged mistreatment of its black bears by denying them drinkable water, and the authorities’ nonchalant apathy towards all the animals it keeps captive.
As per social media posts, the zoo deliberately does not provide its black bears with drinking water. Whenever the thirsty bear and her cubs attempt to drink the meager amount of water they are allowed to have, the zoo keepers immediately and cruellyturn off the water supply to the enclosure.
When visitors complained to the administration that the bears should be given water, it allegedly replied that the zoo only has bitter water. It reportedly explained that the bears can only drink a small amount of bitter water because they will die if they drink too much.
As per the posts, no one is trying to investigate where the zoo’s funds are being spent if not on providing fresh, drinkable water for its inmates.
The matter has been highlighted online several times, and when this scribe contacted the zoo, it confirmed the allegation but also said that people online are making a mountain out of a molehill.
When asked for a comment, the zoo’s Deputy Director said that she was “in a meeting with the Commissioner,” after which shedid not respond on either the phone or on WhatsApp.
Zufishan Anushay, the founder and CEO of Justice for Kiki (JKF) Animal Rescue and Shelter in Lahore, has been following the situation closely after noticing the growing number of social media posts and news articles about the deplorable condition of several animals at the zoo. Speaking to this scribe, she revealed that she had called upon the FOUR PAWS International team to help a lion at the zoo when its team led by Dr. Amir Khalil had visited Karachi Zoo earlier this year to treat Madhubala.
This scribe learned that FOUR PAWS only takes up pro bono cases in Pakistan when it is authorized to by government and legal authorities, and was unable to take action for the lion, and that Zufishan Anushay was told that the team could only handle Madhubala’s case at the time.
She disclosed that she had even notified Junaid Safdar about the lion, to which he had responded, “I am looking into it,” but failed to match his actions to his words.
She remarked, “If you have a soul and are a living being, water is your basic necessity, even before food. Before constructing a building, you first check if the land has ‘meetha pani’. People don’t even build houses in areas that have bitter water, so was there no planning before DG Khan Zoo was constructed?”
“Are those animals just objects for the zoo? How many of them must have suffered from dehydration and then died because of this unresolved water problem? Are they not living beings?” she added.
Surprisingly, when Zufishan Anushay contacted the zoo authorities for permission to immediately send bowsers of fresh water for the animals, the Assistant Director gave her the same answer – that she was on her way to “a zoo committee meeting with the Commissioner” to discuss the bitter water issue, and that she would call her back.
Oddly enough, there is still no word on what was discussed in these meetings and if the meetings were even real.
The DG Khan Zoo was established in 2000 and is run by Punjab’s Forest, Wildlife & Fisheries Department. It also has a longstanding history of grossly neglecting and abusing all its animals, including birds and fish, to the point of death.
Visitors often raise concerns online about the plight of its animals who are malnourished and sick, but it has all fallen on deaf ears. This begs the question of why the zoo even exists if it clearly mistreats its animals and comes up with the absurdestexcuses instead of improving their pitiable conditions. No one in the Government of Punjab seems to be interested in helping the inmates of DG Khan Zoo, checking its maintenance, and conducting an audit of its financial matters, and it’s only a matter of time until another animal dies there.
