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Karachi Zoo Karachi Zoo - Pakistan

Discussion in 'Pakistan' started by vogelcommando, 6 Jul 2014.

  1. vogelcommando

    vogelcommando Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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  2. loxodontaafrica

    loxodontaafrica Well-Known Member

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    The Karachi safari park imported 1.3 African elephant calves from Tanzania in 2009... 0.2 now reside at the Karachi zoo- with constant public interaction and a rather pitiful enclosure...
     
  3. zooboy28

    zooboy28 Well-Known Member

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    Did the other two calves die? Or were they sent elsewhere?
     
  4. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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    it seems like four were supposed to arrive in 2009 but there were various delays and only two arrived in the end (in 2010). However the article I found is a bit vague on that.
    New arrivals at the Karachi zoo – The Express Tribune
     
  5. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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    this article is clearer. Four animals did arrive in 2009, and all stayed at the Karachi Safari Park until 2010 when two went to the Karachi Zoo.
    New enclosures: Safari Park makes room for elephants – The Express Tribune
     
  6. zooboy28

    zooboy28 Well-Known Member

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    Interesting, thanks for that Chlidonias. I wouldn't have thought exports from Africa to places like Pakistan would be allowed, especially from a country like Tanzania.

    They also plan to import "River Horses", wonder how many readers had any idea what they were.
     
  7. vogelcommando

    vogelcommando Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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  8. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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  9. Pertinax

    Pertinax Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    The photo is clearly a domestic Bactrian, from the keepers' clothes and the brickwork in the background, almost certainly in the Casson building at London.

    But a source in the article says the original pair were 'brought from Gilgit-Baltistan in the 1990's'. I don't know if that's within the range of wild camels but sounds like it might be? Of course it still doesn't prove whether they were wild or domestic ones.
     
  10. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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    it isn't in the range of wild camels now, but it may have been in the 1990s (it is in northern Pakistan, bordering China). Hence why I added the caveat of "I might be wrong" ;)

    I think they are far more likely to be domestic Bactrians though.
     
  11. Kifaru Bwana

    Kifaru Bwana Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    The only truly wild camels are in Xinjiang Province, P.R. of China on the borders with Mongolia (Lop Nor). Very few left.

    I suspect this is another literal translit by journos ... Pakistan and the Indian subcontinent for parts is literally swamped with domesticateds.
     
  12. vogelcommando

    vogelcommando Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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  13. vogelcommando

    vogelcommando Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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  14. vogelcommando

    vogelcommando Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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  15. vogelcommando

    vogelcommando Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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  16. vogelcommando

    vogelcommando Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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  17. vogelcommando

    vogelcommando Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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  18. Woo

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    I have never been there but its reputation is clear because Pakistan’s media, international media and social media has covered it over the years. There has been an ongoing campaign about the tiny barren facilities they keep animals in, parts of it unchanged since c19 when Karachi zoo was built. 4 wild captured baby African elephants arrived in 2009. 2, Noor Jehan and Madhubala, were relocated to the zoo after the first year spent in Karachi Safari Park. The facilities are poor and Karachi local government who own and manage the zoo have practically no experience, indeed Pakistan has held elephants in various zoos for at least 40 years yet they don’t have qualified Vets or pay attention to any good practice norms in the zoos resulting in a steady stream of illness, disease and premature death across the different species. The last captive elephants 4 African females aged around 17 eare caged and chained on short chains every night after zoo visitors leave until the zoo opens the next day. Extensive stereotypical behaviours have been recorded, and pulling against their chains. Noor Jehan died in April 2023 of multiple causes stated in an autopsy. Now Madhubala is alone. Four Paws International was eventually, after much media coverage and public pressure permitted in 2022 to attend to assess the health of all 4 elephants. Malika and Sonia were clearly in pain with foot disease, Malika was suffering to the extent that she could put not weight on her feet at on stage and began moving around on her knees or hobbling on 3 feet. Karachi authorities denied it until a report was published by the Pro Elephant Network with photographic evidence. Noor Jehan and Madhubala’s cases were even more extreme, Four Paws found that they both had severely infected tusk stumps which had to be surgically removed to spare their lives. Karachi authorities permitted them to operate with hours of surgery performed (in standing anaesthesia) 5 hours in the case of Madhubala, to remove the infected and maggot infested tusks stumps. One of the small juvenile tusks appeared as if it had been cut off. When Four Paws eventually had to leave the elephants were already wanting to eat, and aftercare and ongoing medication was left in the hands of a local Vet. It appeared that a complete recovery was made, and training given to the safari park staff to treat and then prevent foot disease however the concrete flooring and chains remained in use. In March 2023, someone in Pakistan managed to video the elephants at the zoo. We observed that Noor Jehan appeared to have lost the use of her back legs and was dragging them behind her. She was mostly seen trying to keep herself upright by leaning her head in to a wall or the one tree in the outside yard. Some of the media then covered her condition more fully and it became a national cause of concern to many in Pakistan and worldwide. Karachi authorities again denied that she was seriously ill. Vets in the country had no experience in elephant care and zoo staff are untrained and have to do their best under extremely trying circumstances. One of them was also filmed with a bullhook poking her and pulling on her ear to attempt to hurry her from the day yard to the night cage. She was unable to move her back legs and with her head hanging low she tried to do as he wanted, it was very hard to watch. The Four Paws team were finally invited by the Karachi authorities to attend in early April nearly one month after media platforms first reported about her shocking physical state, and eight months after they had performed surgery to remove her infected tusks. They confirmed that her back legs were paralysed and that she was in a great deal of pain. They gave her an in depth examination, diagnosed her, left medication and strict instructions that she was an intensive care patient and should be closely monitored. They also treated the bad skin conditions of the zoo’s Lions. As they left to attend to other situations they said they felt optimistic that Noor would recover if their medical advice was followed. Tragically Noor was not closely monitored and fell in to a shallow pool which is the elephants only source of water, she lay there for hours unable to get up in her weakened state. By the time she was hauled out by crane she was blue with cold. Karachi citizens immediately negotiated to take over monitering her and administering medication around the clock and had a sand pile made so that she could lie down with more comfort, they were in 24 hour contact with Four Paws by phone and video link. But Noor Jehan never raised herself again and she died on 22 April 2023, she was just 17. An autopsy revealed multiple medical issues that had been present, and also a serious blood parasite disease which is fatal unless promptly treated. The Karachi authorities stated she died from this disease and refused to acknowledge responsibility for anything. Madhubala was tested for the disease which was found to be present in her also, she was treated for it and is now in the clear. Her mental health worsens day by day however, and when we consider what she has been through losing her only elephant companion, witnessing her death and all the uproar around her, and now alone in the same cage and tiny yard with the same inexpert care it is hardly surprising. She has recently been reported and a video done of her slamming her head against the bars of the gate to her enclosure. People on the ground in Karachi and around the world continue to try to move Karachi authorities to act on a verbal agreement between themselves and Four Paws International to build a larger and species specific space at the safari park where the 3 remaining elephants can be reunited. Four Paws has offered much help over the years to animals in Pakistan’s zoos including these 4 African elephants and relocating the male Asian elephant Kaavan to Cambodia Wildlife Sanctuary. They have offered their assistance to build a new species specific space, however since the week long meeting between the Karachi authorities and themselves in August 2023 in Karachi, verbal agreements have not been honoured by the written MoU that Four Paws insists on before donating their expertise and financial aid. They have stated that their offer of assistance remains whenever the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation local government officials sign the MoU. people in Pakistan and around the world continue to advocate on behalf of the #Karachi 3., the last remaining African elephants in Pakistan, and to advocate against zoos in Pakistan obtaining more Asian or African elephants. There is a great deal of video evidence on YouTube and other social media platforms of all that I have said, and campaign material about captive zoo elephants past and present in Pakistan.
     
  19. Dassie rat

    Dassie rat Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Karachi Zoo - Wikipedia has a species list for the zoo. Animals listed include the Sindh ibex (Capra aegagrus blythi) and the Indian sand boa (Eryx johnii)
     
  20. J I N X

    J I N X Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    The ibex in their collection are hybrids with domestic goats to some extent
     
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