On Saturday, 22nd April 2023, a 17-year-old female elephant named Noor Jehan died in a zoo in Karachi in Pakistan. The animal protection organisation that had been caring for the elephant advocated for the zoo’s closure in response.
According to Four Paws, a global animal welfare organisation, the elephant had significant illnesses before falling into a pond last week and was unable to get up without assistance. Noor Jehan had undergone a critical medical procedure at the hands of a team of international veterinarians earlier this month.
Noor Jehan received emergency treatment for a tumour that had incapacitated her back legs. During her rehabilitation, she got stuck in the pool within her enclosure. The 3.5-ton elephant was hauled out by zoo employees, but she was unable to stand and she laid stricken for nine days, a “life-threatening situation for elephants,” according to the wildlife organisation.
Kanwar Ayub, a top official at the Karachi Zoo said that Noor Jehan was transported to Karachi with three other elephants more than a decade ago. She died in an accident, just days after a procedure to check her condition was performed by an Austrian team of animal healthcare professionals.
Syed Saifur Rehman, Karachi’s top city administration official, stated that city and zoo supervisors undertook all possible measures to soothe the long-ailing elephant following the treatment this month. He added, “Sadly we could not save Noor Jehan despite making all efforts including bringing in a team of foreign experts for her treatment.”
Noor Jehan was an African elephant, whose average lifespan is 60 to 70 years. Four Paws veterinarian Amir Khalil said that it was “heartbreaking that she had to die at only 17 years old when she could have had many more years”.
According to a statement issued by Four Paws International, the Karachi Zoo “does not meet international standards” and is not suited to care for elephants. The organisation has stated its support for a forced closure.
The situation of animals confined in zoos in Pakistan is worsening. In April 2020, a court ordered the closure of Pakistan’s only zoo in Islamabad after substandard facilities and animal maltreatment were discovered. It’s the same zoo where Kaavan, the elephant, was held. In a scheme supported by US popstar and actor Cher, an Asian elephant named Kaavan was transported to retirement in Cambodia.