PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Wednesday directed the provincial government to remove noisy amusement rides, including a pirate ship and a train, from the Peshawar Zoo for disturbing animals.

A bench consisting of Chief Justice Qaiser Rashid Khan and Justice Mohammad Nasir Mehfooz directed forest secretary Shahidullah Khan to visit the zoo and produce a report within a week regarding measures taken for the well-being of animals and veterinary services provided to them.

It issued orders during hearing into a petition seeking inquiry and fixation of responsibility for the alleged negligence in the Peshawar Zoo that led to the death of various animals in the recent few months.

The petition was jointly filed by 24 civil society activists, including Dr Ali Jan, Dr Adil Zareef, Jahan Mahmud Aurangzeb, Rukhsana Kuli Khan Khattak, Farzana Khan Wasim and others.

Seeks report on steps taken for well-being of Peshawar Zoo animals

The bench also directed counsel for the petitioners Ali Gohar Durrani to visit the zoo and produce a complete report about its conditions. It fixed Feb 23 for the next hearing.

The petitioners sought the court’s orders for increasing zoo conditions to the internationally acceptable standards.

They also prayed the court to order the shifting of animals not suited to Peshawar’s environment to their natural habitats or suitable sanctuaries from the zoo.

The petitioners sought a ban on the shifting of animals that are not suited to the local environment to the zoo.

Additional advocate general Syed Sikandar Hayat Shah, forest secretary Shahidullah Khan, zoo director Ishtiaq Wazir and wildlife chief conservator Dr Mohsin Farooq appeared before the bench.

Mr Durrani, who is pleading the case pro bono, produced a preliminary report in accordance with the court’s earlier orders and said he visited the zoo and learned that the veterinary staff didn’t even know about the food suitable for animals.

He said recently, a giraffe had died in the zoo.

Mr Durrani pointed out that an amusement park had been established in the zoo, where pirate ship, train and other rides were installed.

He added that the rides caused a lot of noise disturbing zoo animals.

The forest secretary said in consultation with experts based in Punjab, a children’s park was set up in the zoo over an area of seven kanals.

He said the park was meant to provide amusement to children and therefore, it had pirate ship and train rides.

The chief justice observed that there should be facilities for children but the rides disturbing animals should be removed.

He added that whenever animals were imported from Africa and other places for the zoo, they should be provided with conducive atmosphere and good diet.

Answering a query about veterinary staff, the secretary informed the bench that the department had decided to recruit veterinary doctors through the public service commission.

He said a committee comprising doctors and civil society members had also been set up for the zoo and the petitioners could be made part of it. Lawyer Durrani said the earlier comments field by the government clearly showed that there was no proper plan to manage the zoo and instead, stopgap arrangements were made for the purpose.

Published in Dawn, January 21st, 2021