ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad Zoo has finally received an allocation of Rs500 million for resurrection of a Wildlife Conservation and Information Centre.

The said amount has been earmarked in the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP 2022-23).

The present government was very keen on reviving the Islamabad Zoo as the wildlife rehabilitation facility and a wild species learning centre where experts, students and the general public could learn more about indigenous species of Margalla Hills National Park (MHNP).

The national park has become a repository of the endangered common Asian leopards and pangolins, the most trafficked anteater, chairperson of Islamabad Wildlife Management Board (IWMB) Rina Saeed Khan told this agency while sharing her insight on the issue.

She added that the zoo was made non-operational after the judgement of former chief justice of Islamabad High Court (IHC) Justice Athar Minallah due to poor management of wildlife including the Asian male elephant Kaavan.

Khan said the blueprint for the wildlife centre was ready, designed by famous architect Raza Ali Dada who had created the conceptual design of the centre.

She noted that the major issue of land was resolved as the 25-acre piece of land was given to IWMB by Capital Development Authority (CDA) and the no objection certificate (NOC) was issued.

“All codal formalities have been met and only the federal cabinet’s ratification is left which will be fulfilled soon,” she added.

The initial concept paper or PC-I was submitted and the nomenclature for the institution was proposed as Margalla Wildlife Centre, the chairperson said.

Ms Khan said many international non-governmental organisations (INGOs) working on wildlife protection such as Free The Wild among others were interested in future collaborations with the IWMB.

She said the board has rescued and rehabilitated many black bears and there was also need to work out their future. The wildlife centre would possess advanced technological solutions to provide wildlife information to its visitors.

It is set to become the first with virtual reality and bring visitors closer than ever before to animals. High-tech movies and documentaries will be played and a virtual show will be arranged on a daily basis while a part of the land will also be used to keep rescued animals. Visual gallery and 3D shows will be arranged to apprise the public about wildlife and the need to preserve their freedom, she said.

A period of nearly one and half month has been set to start construction work on this project, she said, adding that two third of the land would have an entertainment area for citizens, whereas one third of the land would be used to establish a rescue and rehabilitation centre at the zoo. This rescue centre will also be the first of its kind to bring rescued animals from all over Pakistan and provide them with medical care.

Published in Dawn, January 30th, 2023