BAHAWALPUR: The death of a male black bear at the zoo under mysterious circumstances about 12 days back has raised eyebrows.

The bear, stated to be aged, had died of some illness on Nov 29, however, neither the zoo management nor did the wildlife department announce his death, raising concerns among the animal lovers about the cause of the death.

Sources said the bear remained sick for days and the veterinary doctors tried to cure him but in vain.

Wildlife Deputy Director Rai Zahid Ali said that after the treatment of over a week the bear had recovered but later, all of a sudden, he suffered a heart attack, leading to his death.

He claimed there was no negligence on the part of the zoo officials and they had been looking after the animal properly. He said that after the death of the only male bear of the Bahawalpur Zoo, another male bear from Vehari zoo might be brought here.

Zoo curator Sakhi Joyia said the bear remained ill for about eight days due to some problem in his digestive system.

He claimed the animal was given proper treatment and the vets from the wildlife department and the Cholistan University of Veterinary Animal Sciences Bahawalpur had tried to diagnose the disease he was suffering from but they failed and the bear expired.

Joyia added that the post-mortem on the body of the bear was also carried out, which showed that his death was caused by defective liver. According to curator, bear was also old and died after attaining the age of about 16 years.

The bear was shifted to the zoo from Lahore in 2014 and he was living with five female bears in the local zoo.

PPP RALLY: The PPP local chapter took out a rally against the price hike.

The rally was moved on Hasilpur Road and culminated at the Farid Gate where local party leaders addressed the participants and condemned the government for its failure to control the prices of essential commodities.

Published in Dawn, December 11th, 2021