A macaw is kept in a small cage in The Eye View Park Zoo in Rawalpindi
The Chirrya Ghar has not always been a place of marvel and joy for me. From Karachi to Lahore to Islamabad, my trips to local private and public zoos are assorted memories of seeing magnificent animals living in appalling conditions.
The shockingly emaciated and agitated black bear at Ayub National Park in Rawalpindi from several years ago; Kavaan, the lone elephant in Marghazar Zoo, Islamabad, whose plight raised an international outcry; the lions in Lahore Zoo confined in small, concrete-floored cages; or the furiously pacing hyenas in a private mini-zoo in Karachi — seeing these caged animals has mostly evoked misery rather than marvel.
THE ZOO EVOLUTION
Historians agree that the first public zoo was set up by Queen Hatshesput in 1500 BC, with animals from all over Africa. The first modern zoo was established in Vienna by King Franz Josef for his wife, in 1752. It is still considered one of the best zoos in the world.
The condition of animals removed from their natural habitats and caged in Pakistan’s zoos should prompt soul-searching
“Zoos grew in popularity after Europe’s industrial revolution, when they were opened for education, research and recreational purposes,” explains Safwan Shahab Ahmed, vice chairman of the Pakistan Wildlife Foundation (PWF). “However, research, in turn, began to prove that animals suffered in captivity.”
With empirical evidence, zoologists and animal rights activists realised that it is arrogant, in fact cruel, to remove innocent wildlife from its natural habitat and reduce it to a spectacle in confinement.
Owing to mounting criticism, many countries have repurposed zoos from the traditional exhibit style to one that seeks to conserve and care for animals. The best zoos of the world have sophisticated research, conservation and education programmes engaging top experts from around the world.
For instance, the San Diego Zoo in the US, spread over the 100-acre Balboa Park, has a sophisticated conservation programme, which has been able to successfully breed endangered species such as the Giant Panda, Galapagos turtles, giraffes, koalas and tigers. It was the first zoo to introduce cage-less, open-air exhibit areas that attempt to recreate natural habitats for animals from the polar region to the African Highlands.
The best zoos in the world, such as the heavily-funded Toronto Zoo, take pride in breeding and rehabilitating endangered indigenous animals, such as ferrets and marmots. The pathology department at the Bronx Zoo in the US studies diagnosis and treatment of diseases transferred from animals to humans, such as the SARS, avian flu and Ebola virus.
THE CASE AGAINST ZOOS
Animal rights activists argue that conservation and breeding of endangered animals benefits only a miniscule percentage of animals compared to the majority that spends a lifetime in confinement. They argue that the exorbitant money spent on reproduction programmes using artificial insemination techniques can instead be used to implement anti-poaching and trafficking laws and improve natural wildlife sanctuaries and parks.
Maheen Zia, an eco-documentary filmmaker and co-founder of the Pakistan Animal Welfare Society (Paws), is fervently opposed to confining animals. “It’s simply unethical to remove an animal from its habitat and imprison it,” she says. “Animals are extremely private creatures and imprisonment destroys their emotional well-being, thereby affecting their breeding and longevity. Our government needs to gradually phase out the existing zoos completely and invite investment to develop more wildlife parks with breeding and safekeeping of indigenous species only. That will be wildlife protection in the truest sense.”