LAHORE: The Lahore Zoo is awaiting animals for pairing purpose for over two years because of delay in their delivery by the contractor concerned.

The zoo Director Shafqat Ali told Dawn that orders for provision of a female rhino, a male hippo, a female giraffe and a pair of tigers had been placed with a contractor more than two years ago.

However, he said the delivery of these animals was delayed because of a number of reasons such as delay in issuance of NOCs, shipping issues and the Covid-19 lockdown.

Mr Ali said to remove the bottlenecks in bringing these animals to Pakistan, a meeting of the Zoo Management Committee was held recently in which a new time frame for their shipment was discussed. The meeting was headed by Punjab Wildlife and Parks Director General Tahir Hamadni. He hoped that soon arrangements would be made to bring these animals to Pakistan.

He said these animals were being imported for pairing which was a big issue.

Published in Dawn, September 21st, 2020