Karachi Zoo, Safari Park elephants need urgent medical aid, healthy food: report

• Report says elephants' lives may be at risk if immediate medical assistance and healthy food is not provided.
• Says two elephants in Safari Park are facing nutrition issues while the other two in zoo are suffering from tooth and gum disease.
• Says overall condition of elephants is good but their hemoglobin levels are low and they are overweight.

KARACHI: The lives of four elephants kept at Karachi Zoo and Safari Park may be put at risk if immediate medical assistance and healthy food are not provided to them. 

This was stated in a report released Tuesday, compiled by a team of vets and animals experts of the international animal rights group Four Paws.

The medical assessment of the elephants, Malika, Sonu, Noor Jehan, and Madhubala, was conducted on November 28 and 29 as per the orders of Sindh High Court, which is currently conducting hearings on a petition filed against the "deplorable" condition of the elephants kept in captivity.

According to the report, the two elephants in Safari Park are facing nutrition issues while the other two in zoo are suffering from tooth and gum disease.

The overall condition of the elephants is good but their hemoglobin levels are low and they are overweight, the report states.

The report prepared by the team was presented in the SHC today.

Dr Frank Göritz, while speaking to the media, said that the tusks of the elephants are cracked and they need immediate treatment.

Meanwhile, Karachi Zoo Senior Director Mansoor Qazi said that the elephants are in good physical health. He said that the recommendations of the foreign team will be implemented.

The Karachi Metropolitan Corporation was dragged into court by an NGO for animal rights over alleged negligence towards the elephants that caused deterioration of their health.

The KMC officials, however, had claimed that the elephants were “perfectly healthy” and in “excellent shape”.

The petitioner said that the four elephants were being kept at the Safari Park and the Karachi Zoo in concrete structures and improper condition, which was putting their lives at risk, The News reported.

The NGO said that on the basis of video and photographic assessment, wildlife experts had concluded that the four elephants were being kept in a deplorable state. The organisation’s representative said that one of the elephants, Malika, was in a dire need of medical attention because according to veterinary experts, she was forced to put weight on two legs since all four of her feet could not carry her weight.

The applicant said that serious health problems like arthritis, hernia, swelling in the knee joints, and overgrowth of foot soles and cuticles as well as inflammation were common in captive elephants, and that all the four animals showed signs of being afflicted with at least one of these ailments.