Capital Development Authority (CDA) is the development agency of Islamabad. On January 29 last year, the board gave its approval to seek permission from the federal cabinet to take over the Islamabad zoo, on which the wildlife board has started reviewing the legal aspects.
Islamabad Wildlife Raina Saeed, chairperson of the board, told Independent Urdu that ‘This decision of the CDA is a violation of the orders of the Islamabad High Court and the wildlife board is considering legal options.’
Raina Saeed said that CDA may not have time to take the matter to the federal cabinet and the matter will now go to the cabinet of the newly elected government.
After the CDA Board’s decision, the Wildlife Management Board said in a statement that on January 29, 2024, without consulting or informing the Wildlife Board, the CDA Board during its meeting reclaimed the Islamabad Zoo. and decided to reopen it as an international standard zoo.
‘The CDA Board was wrongly informed that IWMB had failed to avail the facility. The CDA board has now approved the proposal and asked the authorities concerned to approach the federal government with a request to take back the management control of the now closed zoo.’
In this regard, the Islamabad Wildlife Management Board added in the statement that ‘Islamabad Wildlife Ordinance 1979 was established under section four in 2015 and reports to the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment Coordination.
The Islamabad Zoo was handed over to the Wildlife Board by the Federal Cabinet in July 2020 following the orders of the Islamabad High Court following the killing and ill-treatment of several animals, including the Kawan elephant, and at that time the Islamabad Zoo was closed. CDA did not challenge the High Court’s decision to
‘Later the Wildlife Board converted the place into the only wildlife rescue center of its kind in Pakistan, providing assistance to all species of wild animals in distress.’
“Since its formal inception in 2021, the center has successfully rescued and rehabilitated around 381 animals,” the statement added. The Wildlife Board, in consultation with international experts from Join Hands (an international NGO), has also approved detailed plans for opening a Visitor Information Center with digital display for the public as part of the Margalla Wildlife Centre. .’
Why was Islamabad Zoo closed?
Islamabad Zoo was established in 1978 on an area of 10 hectares and housed rare animals and imported animals from abroad.
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Due to the declining health of Kawan, who spent 35 years in the Islamabad zoo, the issue came to light and the poor management of the zoo came to light. Two international animal protection organizations in Austria approached the government of Pakistan in this regard. A petition was filed in the Islamabad High Court through a lawyer.
In a case related to the plight of elephants in Islamabad zoo, the court had ordered that the animals be shifted to a safe place.
While complying with the court order Marghazar Zoo While the animals were being transported, the lion and the lioness were killed due to the negligence of the staff.
Videos related to this also went viral on social media in which the zoo staff were torturing the tiger by setting fire to its cage.
The Chief Justice Islamabad High had expressed outrage over the killing of animals and sought a response from the Wildlife Board and the Ministry of Climate Change.
All the animals of Islamabad’s Murghazar Zoo were moved to Ayub National Park on court orders due to mismanagement, while the Kawan elephant was moved to Cambodia, a pair of Himalayan brown bears to Jordan, after which the zoo was closed on 17 December 2020. was done
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2024-08-12 23:31:05
