KARACHI, Pakistan (Reuters) – Noor Jehan, an elephant in Pakistan’s Karachi Zoo whose sickness revived criticisms of the nation’s zoos, died on Saturday regardless of frantic efforts to deal with her, officers stated.
The critically sick 17-year-old elephant had fallen right into a pond this month and been unable to rise up with out assist.
“After preventing for 9 days, she succumbed to her essential situation. She spent too lengthy mendacity on the bottom – a life-threatening scenario for elephants,” 4 Paws, a global animal welfare organisation that had been advising native and worldwide veterinarians on her remedy, stated in an announcement.
4 Paws veterinarian Amir Khalil stated it was “heartbreaking that she needed to die at solely 17 years outdated, when she might have had many extra years”. Noor Jehan was an African elephant, whose common lifespan is 60 to 70 years.
Lately two lions died of asphyxiation in Pakistan after handlers tried to get them out of their den utilizing smoke, and quite a lot of white tiger cubs have died.
The director of the Karachi Zoo was eliminated this month over complaints of negligence. A court docket in 2020 ordered the closure of the Islamabad Zoo, the place the elephant Kaavan was stored.
The American superstar Cher, after years of searching for to free Kaavan, got here to Pakistan to see him off on his transfer to a Cambodian sanctuary.
Khalil stated Karachi Zoo didn’t meet worldwide requirements and urged that Madhubala, the wholesome elephant remaining on the zoo, be relocated to a extra species-appropriate place to provide her an opportunity at a greater life.
4 Paws stated Madhubala was mourning the lack of her longtime companion.
The widespread criticism confronted by authorities within the wake of Noor Jehan’s situation – with pictures of her helplessly mendacity on her aspect – has led to studies within the native media that Karachi Zoo could also be shut down completely.
4 Paws stated it welcomed this proposal, including that it might be a turning level for the welfare of untamed animals in captivity in Pakistan.