KARACHI: Experts raised concerns over the composition of a committee set up by the Karachi Metropolitan Corpor­ation (KMC) to hold an inquiry into the death of a golden tabby tiger at Karachi Zoo and the language used in its notification saying the body lacked credibility, it emerged on Sunday.

They also criticised the notification’s language and its content as, according to them, it not only reflected ignorance but also showed a lack of seriousness on part of KMC authorities.

According to a notification dated March 3, “The competent authority, i.e. the Administrator, KMC, is pleased to constitute an investigation and enquiry committee comprising the following members to conduct an inquiry into the death of a lion in Karachi zoo, recreation department, KMC, and to submit the report within 15 days before the competent authority.”

The committee members are: Rashid Nizam, BPS-19 officer at KMC (chairman), Dr Farhan Issani, senior veterinary officer at the livestock department, Dr Zulfiqar Odho, in charge of the Richmond Crawford Hospital, Dr Taj Muhammad, deputy director, veterinary services at KMC and Dr Muhammad Mansoor Qazi, (co-opt member)) former senior director zoo, Safari and recreation at KMC.

Five-member committee has no representation from wildlife dept; autopsy report of the big cat yet to be made public

However, the experts pointed out that a major mistake in the notification was that it sought investigation into the death of a lion instead of a golden tabby tiger.

“The recent death of a zoo tiger was widely covered in the media and it’s surprising that officials are so negligent in releasing the notification that they couldn’t even mention the specific species. Such communiqué requires approval at multiple levels,” said an expert.

Sources said that there should have been specific terms of reference (ToRs), or instruction, in the notification for the members who had been assigned the investigation, but, there was none.

The experts also questioned the composition of the committee that comprised only one senior zoo expert.

“Excluding Dr Mansoor Qazi, who had retired as KMC’s senior director Zoo and Safari a few months back, rest are associated with KMC’s veterinary services which solely deal with livestock. Moreover, the committee is headed by a completely irrelevant person, though he has a good reputation as a finance director,” an official said.

The sources expressed disappointment that no independent vet or an official of the wildlife department was considered as committee members.

KMC spokesperson Ali Hasan Sajid, when asked, conceded what he described as an “error” and said generally people didn’t differentiate between a lion and a tiger and that the department might correct the mistake (and release another notification).

“The committee was set up in haste as an immediate response to media reports about the death of the tiger,” he said when asked why wildlife officials or any independent vet was not included in the committee and absence of ToRs in the notification.

The department is yet to make public the report of a post-mortem examination, which was carried out soon after the tiger’s death on March 2.

Contrary to official claims that the exotic tiger had “completed its age” in captivity and looked after well, the sources said that the tiger was 13 years old and apparently died due to lack of proper care.

It was the fourth big cat fatality at the zoo in three years. All these deaths had been officially blamed on the animals’ old age.

The sources said the golden tabby tiger had been alone since 2013 when he lost his mate after arriving at the Safari Park from Lahore under a controversial animal exchange deal.

“The tigress died within two weeks of their arrival at the Safari after which the tiger was shifted to the zoo,” an official said and added that the animals were four-year-old at that time.

According to the Zoological Wildlife Foundation, golden tiger or golden tabby tiger is one with an extremely rare colour variation caused by a recessive gene that is currently only found in captive tigers. Like the white tiger, it is a colour form and not a separate species.

There are currently believed to be fewer than 30 of these rare tigers in the world, but many more carriers of the gene.

Published in Dawn, March 6th, 2023