IHC wants Kaavan to be relocated to appropriate sanctuary.

Byline: Nasir Iqbal

ISLAMABAD -- The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday held that animals in captivity at the Marghazar Zoo in Islamabad have been kept in conditions that amount to subjecting them to unnecessary pain and suffering and are thus in violation of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1890 and the Wildlife Ordinance of 1979.

'Neither there are adequate facilities nor resources to provide living conditions that would meet the behavioural, social and physiological needs of the animals,' read a verdict authored by Chief Justice Athar Minallah.

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While deciding a petition of the Islamabad Wildlife Management Board against the Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad (MCI), the verdict regretted the Kaavan - the zoo's lone elephant - has been treated cruelly by subjecting him to unimaginable pain and suffering for the past three decades and his continued captivity in the circumstances would expose the authorities to criminal consequences under the relevant laws.

Kaavan was gifted by Sri Lanka in 1985 when he was a year old and for more than 30 years, has been kept chained in a small enclosure, with inappropriate conditions required to meet the physiological, social and behavioural needs of this extraordinary species of living beings.

Court rules that Islamabad zoo's animals have been kept in conditions that violate Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, Wildlife Ordinance

The pain and suffering of Kaavan must come to an end by relocating him to an appropriate elephant sanctuary, in or outside the country, the verdict held, adding the chairman of the Board of Wildlife Management, constituted under the Wildlife Ordinance of 1979 should forthwith make arrangements, preferably in consultation with and the consent of the High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to relocate Kaavan to a suitable sanctuary within 30 days. The board can seek assistance of experts and international entities or organisations in this regard.

Similarly the board will also relocate all the remaining animals to their respective sanctuaries within 60 days from the date of receiving a certified copy of this judgment, the court said.

The board will also take over the management of the zoo whereas MCI and the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) chief commissioner will assist the board till the animals have been relocated.

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