KARACHI: As critically ill elephant Noor Jehan fights for her survival with each passing moment, what’s preventing her from getting back on her feet is her partially paralysed hind leg, sources told Dawn on Monday.

The sources said while the 17-year-old elephant had shown slight signs of improvement since her reported fall in her pond last Thursday, she was unable to give her best to what seemed to be the most difficult time in her life.

Noor Jehan, they said, had been helped multiple times over the past four days to stand on her feet but all efforts had ended without success.

“She is able to move her legs except the partially paralysed hind leg. This is what endangers her life. The leg seems to have been seriously affected by health complications she has been suffering from over the past few months,” a Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) official stated on the condition of anonymity.

KMC forms nine-member body to look after ailing elephant

Noor Jehan, weighing around two-and-a-half tonnes, was massaged from time to time and helped twice in a day to stand on her feet and to change her position.

“These exercises, done with the help of a crane, are meant to reduce pressure on organs lying on one side of the body and improve blood circulation. Her head is also kept a bit elevated instead of lying flat,” he said, adding that the risk for muscle atrophy and nerve numbness was getting greater day by day.

According to the zoo staff, Noor Jehan is daily administered with 30 liters of glucose and minerals, along with medicines for the treatment of haematoma detected in her abdomen and damaged pelvic area a few weeks back.

They also shared that Madhubala, the other female elephant living together with Noor Jehan for over a decade, had reduced her daily intake when she found herself away from her partner last Thursday.

“Since Noor Jehan had been found to have health complications early this month by foreign experts, both elephants were being kept in separate but adjacent enclosures. But, they could see and touch each other with their trunks.

“For the past four days, however, Madhubala could only see Noor Jehan as she lay on the ground in critical condition. This had been quite frustrating for the latter as she reduced her daily intake and used to make a lot of noise,” a zoo keeper said, adding that Madhubala now seemed to be adjusting to the new situation.

Failure to do ultrasound

The sources regretted continued reluctance on behalf of the KMC to institute an inquiry into the circumstances that led to Noor Jehan’s alleged fall in her pond last week and the criminal negligence demonstrated by the zoo staff in making timely efforts to save her from disability that now threatens her life. The team at the site, they said, failed to carry out an ultrasound planned a day earlier, apparently due to high fluctuation in electricity supplies.

“We are planning to do it in day-time as electricity supplies are better in the morning hours,” zoo director Kanwar Ayub said. He expressed the hope that Noor Jehan’s condition would get better in the coming days.

“Her vital organs are working and she’s passing stool and urine normally. She eats around 10 kg of food daily that includes carrots, apples and sugarcane,” he said, adding that he was anxiously waiting for the Four Paws’ team as they had the expertise and equipment to treat the ailing elephant.

Currently, Four Paws is supervising the whole treatment process at the zoo by giving advice to the local team at the site at each and every step needed to save Noor Jehan’s life.

A few weeks back the team arrived in the city on KMC’s invitation and diagnosed Noor Jehan with a large haematoma in her abdomen, causing edema in the reproductive organs and blocking the passage of urine and stool.

Meanwhile, the KMC has set up a nine-member committee to look after Noor Jehan. The members included vets of Four Paws (Dr Amir Khalil, Dr Marina Ivanova, Dr Frank Göritz and Prof Thomas Hildebrandt), former zoo director Dr Mansoor Qazi, Dr Imran Rasheed of University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore, Dr Isma Gheewala, zoo vet Dr Amir Rizvi and Dr Kazim Hussain.

It might be recalled that Noor Jehan had been in pain and misery for over four months and the KMC sought assistance from the NGO after her plight was highlighted in the media.

In August last year, the foreign experts performed major tusk surgeries on Noor Jehan and Madhubala, the other female elephant. This step followed intervention of the Sindh High Court, which was approached by the Pakistan Animal Welfare Society (Paws) and activists worried over animal plight.

Published in Dawn, April 18th, 2023