BAHAWALPUR: A lion cub died in the zoo here due to alleged negligence on the part of the staff. The cub was born about four days ago.

With this mortality, the number of lion cubs that died in the Bahawalpur zoo in a year has risen to seven, Dawn has learnt.

According to sources, the cub was not properly fed which caused its death. Members of the caretaker staff claimed that the lioness had refused to feed the cub.

The special milk prescribed by the doctor was brought from Islamabad and fed to the cub but before that, it had developed a liver disease. The milk brought from Islamabad was too late and the cub could not survive.

Dawn repeatedly attempted to contact zoo curator Ali Akbar on his landline telephone but he did not receive the call and his mobile phone was switched off.

A couple of months back, four cubs had died under mysterious circumstances with the zoo administration claiming that the lioness herself had eaten one of them while others could not be fed properly by their mother. Two other cubs had died last year and the then zoo administration had failed to identify the causes of their death as well.

It may be noted the local zoo had been fertile regarding the birth of lion’s cubs which were sold to circus owners and individuals, fetching thousands of rupees annually for many years. But, for the previous two years, the mortality rate of the cubs had increased, indicating the alleged negligence of the zoo staff.

Last year, in addition to cub’s mortality, several peacocks had also died and the Bahawalpur zoo administration had identified sewage adulterated water on the zoo premises as cause of their death.

Besides, a number of birds and animals were shifted from the zoo to other zoos in the last few years but their alternatives were not given to the zoo under birds’ exchange programme of the government.

The director general of the wildlife department in Lahore should take serious note of the deteriorating conditions in the Bahwalpur zoo and take measures for its improvement.

BURNT: A man was booked on charges of throwing hot ghee on a woman and burning her face at Musafirkhana, about 25km from here.

Police said Sajida Bibi’s son Ali Haider was arrested in a case which was registered by one Jamil, a shopkeeper. Bibi went to Jamil’s shop to protest against the arrest of her son. During the argument, Jamil allegedly threw hot ghee on her face, causing serious burns. She was rushed to hospital while police registered a case against Jamil on her complaint.

Published in Dawn, July 25th, 2014