KARACHI: Despite their inadequacies, the city zoo and the Safari Park remained major spots of ‘recreation’ for the public during the Eid holidays and the facilities were visited by thousands of people alongside their children to celebrate the festive occasion.

However, no special measures were taken by the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) under which these facilities utilised the opportunity to educate people about the animals housed and their habitat.

Rather, the event was used merely to generate more revenue by renting out the space to set up more eateries and frivolous ‘recreational’ stalls.

“I am wondering why it is named a Safari since children’s rides occupy a large part of this facility while wildlife animals are very few,” said Mehtab, a housewife, who was at the Safari Park with her two children on Thursday.

In addition to the regular rides offered to children throughout the year, camel and pony rides as well as a jumping castle were also available to visitors on Eid. However, both animals appeared weak.

And while these rides were inexpensive, there were families who couldn’t even afford the minimal fee for their children to enjoy.

It was also distressing to note that the Safari tour, a bus trip that takes visitors to the hilly parts of the park that houses wild animals, didn’t have any learning opportunity for visitors; the speeding bus with a loud horn stood in front of each of the seven enclosures for hardly five to 10 seconds before heading towards the next one.

“There was no staff on the bus to brief us about the animals we saw during the complete 10-minute trip. We could have acquired some knowledge by reading their nameplates but the driver refused to let us get off the bus saying that he was ordered not to do so,” said a visitor, while expressing his dissatisfaction over his visit to the facility.

The Safari tour should be a ‘signature activity’ of the facility and required proper handling, he added.

“My children, anxious to see elephants from a close distance, were quite upset when they couldn’t even catch a glimpse and the bus moved on to the next enclosure,” he said. He also complained that he was forced to pay Rs50 as Eidi to the staff at the entry gate.

Visitors were disappointed with the few species at the Safari that included elephants, black bucks, spotted deer, white fallow deer, nilgai and a pair of zebras.

While there is greater diversity at the zoo where visitors can see large mammals like Bengal tigers, pumas, lions (including a pair of white lions) and elephants, the facility too lacks the mechanism to educate and generate public interest in wild animals.

Speaking to Dawn, some visitors said that having nameplates at the enclosure was not sufficient and the administration should hire guides so that children can enjoy interactive sessions about animals and the habitat they live in.

“A number of parents and children who visit the zoo and the Safari Park are not literate. So, it would be wise if the administrations of these facilities hire guides who educate the public and inculcate a love for these animals in children by having a conversation with them,” said Sohail Ahmed, a father of four, visiting the zoo on Friday.

Upon contact, Khalid Hashim heading the Safari Park, explained that the facility, with only one regular and two contractual vets, faced an acute shortage of staff and that he had requested the high-ups to increase their number.

“The complaint about the bus trip was brought to my knowledge on Thursday and was immediately addressed. The concerned bus driver has temporarily been suspended,” he said, while agreeing that the facility should have visitor guides.

He also seconded the view that the facility had very limited wildlife species and said that plans were afoot to induct at least 20 to 25 more species that included a giraffe in three to six months.

On commercialising the facility, he said: “The 10-acre area rented out to a party for recreational activities has been taken back and now ideas are being discussed on how to utilise it. We need recreational stalls to generate revenue as the park doesn’t earn enough from visitors’ fees.”

The irrigation project at the park has been completed and the facility would become greener in the coming months, he observed, while promising that other public complaints would be looked into immediately.

About the shortage of staff, the KMC’s senior director for culture, sports and recreation, Saif Abbas Husni, said no appointments could be made in the presence of the government ban.

“In the present situation, we can’t even make contractual appointments. Besides, it’s only on Eid holidays that the zoo and Safari Park have so many visitors. Facing a severe shortage of funds, the facilities experience dull business the rest of the year,” he said, adding that he was thinking of initiating projects on the basis of public-private partnership to uplift these two facilities.

Published in Dawn, July 9th, 2016