Recently animals from Islamabad zoo died in transfer to Lahore due to criminal negligence
Contempt of court notices were issued to Climate Change State Minister Zartaj Gul, Special Assistant Malik Amin Aslam and members of the Islamabad Wildlife Management Board (IWMB) by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) in the case related with the death of animals at the capital’s zoo. A number of animals, including a lion and lioness, were killed during to gross negligence of the zoo authorities during their transfer from Islamabad to Lahore zoo.
The chief justice of IHC Minallah said that this was an example of human cruelty towards animals. He rejected the notion from the government that shifted all the blame on the climate change secretary.
The secretary of climate industry change said that an investigation was underway as to what lead to the incident. It was also noted that out of the 900 animals present in the zoo last year, only 400 were handed over to the ministry. Over half of the animals were missing.
Islamabad Zoo has been under the microscope for the last few months due to its ill-treatment of the animals. The court had ordered all animals to be moved to sanctuaries until the zoo is upgraded to international standards and certified by an accredited international agency.
The court also ordered that Kaavan, the lone animal in the zoo, to be moved to a proper sanctuary. The elephant has finally moved to a sanctuary in Cambodia. The transfers were delayed for weeks before the transfers started.
Similar issues have been seen in Peshawar zoo where a number of animals have died in the last year. It is important that this criminal negligence is brought to an end and those responsible should be brought to justice.