ISLAMABAD: Ministry of Climate Change has started making efforts to reclaim Marghazar Zoo, a senior official of the ministry told Dawn.

“We have an over-arching plan to improve the overall conditions of the zoo and the animals there to bring them at par with those in the developed countries,” said the official in Dawn.

Three days ago, Minister of State for Climate Change Zartaj Gul informed a parliamentary committee of the National Assembly that her office was far more equipped to improve the deplorable state of Islamabad zoo and its animals.

Steps taken by the ministry had improved the zoo’s condition and so of the animals, official says

“We have conveyed our willingness to manage the facility to the interior ministry, which oversees its functioning,” she told the meeting.

The National Assembly Standing Committee on Climate Change unanimously recommended that the control of the zoo should be transferred to the ministry.

However, talking to Dawn, the climate change ministry’s deputy director media, Mohammad Saleem, said before the Islamabad High Court’s order of July 29 regarding the transfer of administrative control of Marghazar Zoo from the Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad to the Ministry of Climate Change, the facility was in extremely deplorable condition.

“The management was extremely poor and inadequate arrangements for food and cleanliness for animals had given the zoo a rundown look. Various steps taken by the climate change ministry from July 30 to August 29 improved the condition of the zoo and the animals in many ways. This was the period during which the zoo remained under the administrative control of the ministry,” the official said.

According to Mr Saleem, a detailed court order of the Islamabad High Court of September 2 also recognised the ministry’s efforts that led to improvement in conditions of the zoo and its animals.

The court order read, “It is obvious from the arguments advanced by the parties today that the situation has improved considerably. This arrangement will therefore continue.”

The Islamabad Wildlife Management Board (IWMB) had approached Islamabad High Court (IHC) in July 2019, seeking attention through a writ petition towards pathetic condition of the zoo and the sick and under-fed animals.

Following the hearing, the IHC gave an order on July 5, 2019, transferring Marghazar Zoo from the MCI to the Ministry of Climate Change. The corporation was however reluctant to implement the court’s order.

In another order, the IHC made the ministry’s joint secretary administration the in-charge of the zoo where animals were neglected.

Mohammad Saleem explained that one of the key steps the ministry took was improving the living conditions of the animals and ensuring cleanliness of the cages, which had a positive effect on the health of the animals.

“The injured brown bear, which was in a pitiful condition because of neglect, was rehabilitated and it became healthy after its diet was improved,” Mohammad Saleem said.

He further said that another major achievement of the ministry was that the zoo was made plastic-free completely.

“Now that the zoo’s administrative control is back with the MCI following the recent IHC order, the climate change ministry is working out modalities with the interior ministry to take over the administrative control of Marghazar Zoo as per Prime Minister’s Imran Khan’s directives,” he said.

“The climate change ministry is the federal policy-making and coordinating body in wildlife, forestry, biodiversity and other environment and climate change-related matters. The ministry has the resources and the expertise to manage the facility in a better way,” he added.

Published in Dawn, October 6th, 2019