All hope lost for animals at the Karachi Zoo

KARACHI: Removed from their natural habitat and forced to spend time in cramped cages with deteriorating cleanliness conditions, it seems like all hope is lost for the animals at Karachi Zoological Gardens.

Despite the budgeted 35 zoo keepers, only 17 are employed to look after over 850 animals and birds, housed in 107 cages. The alarming hygiene conditions are not surprising given the zoo has a total of three people in the cleaning team to tend to the premises spread over 33 acres.

A number of animals including three newborn Puma cubs and a Bengal tiger have been reported dead in the recent past. Media outlets and animal rights activists have highlighted the dire need to hire trained staff time and again, but the authorities were seemingly uninterested in revamping the zoo until recently.

During his visit to Karachi Zoological Garden on Wednesday, Chief Minister Sindh, Syed Murad Ali Shah vowed that the zoo’s conditions will be improved and it will be made more beautiful.

"An amount in the budget for Karachi has already been allocated for the zoo," he said while talking to the media.

It is yet to be seen if the Sindh government keeps up to its promise; until then, the zoo remains to serve only as a death trap for animals.