The Lahore Safari Zoo has decided to cancel the auction plans of 12 big cats from its ever-growing pride to private buyers, stating it would rather expand the area by creating new enclosures for the lions.
Deputy director Tanvir Ahmed Janjua while talking to the media said that the officials have decided to speed up work on building two new enclosures in the zoo thus the auction plan has been called off which was primarily due to space issues.
“The main reason behind the auction was the lack of space,” he said, “Now that this issue is to be resolved soon, there is no need for the auction to take place.”
Lahore Safari Zoo, set over 200 acres, is currently home to 29 lions, six resident tigers, and two jaguars, and is considered one of the best in the country — where zoos are known for disregarding animal welfare.
The facility administration had set a reserve of 150,000 Pakistan rupees ($700) per cat — about the same price as a cow — but hoped each would fetch around two million rupees at auction.
Janjua responds to rumors
The Zoo administration denied the rumor that opposition from animal rights activists had led to the decision to cancel the auction.
“Should the lions breed more, and we see we are running out of space once again, then we can easily hold another auction,” Janjua said.
Auction Plan
The Lahore zoo had planned an auction on Thursday, Aug. 11, to sell a dozen of lions, aged between two and five years old, to private buyers.
Conservationists, however, opposed to the sale, including the environmental group WWF saying the creatures should be moved to other established zoos, or breeding females sterilized or given contraceptives.
“Animal exchanges and donations between zoos are a widely accepted practice,” the organization’s spokesperson Uzma Khan told news agency.
“Once an institution such as a zoo places a price tag on a wildlife species it is promoting trade — which is counterproductive to conservation,” she added.