KARACHI: The Four Paws’ team collected on Thursday blood samples from two zoo lionesses suspected to be suffering from some disease.

Sources said it’s the first time in decades that any zoo animal, excluding the elephants whose case was being pursued in court, underwent medical examination of any kind.

The female big cats, along with their mates, were brought to the zoo following their confiscation at Karachi airport in 2010. They were brought here on expired permits and lost their mates over the years.

“Both of them appeared sick which prompted the zoo administration to seek help from the foreign experts,” a Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) official told Dawn.

The zoo, he said, didn’t have qualified staff to sedate animals and collect blood samples. “Unfortunately, the lone pony and the female bear couldn’t get the same medical attention. Both animals are kept in poor condition at the zoo,” he said.

The day also saw zoo elephant Madhubala being allowed to roam in the enclosure where her long-time partner Noor Jehan spent her last days.

“While she moved around, she didn’t step on Noor Jehan’s grave,” a zoo keeper shared, adding that Madhubala had not seen Noor Jehan for 14 days after she fell in her pond.

The international team of experts working for animal welfare a day earlier collected samples of Madhubala to see whether she was fit for relocation to Safari Park where the authorities plan to build a dedicated facility for elephants.

According to the sources, Noor Jehan’s post-mortem report will take another week.

Noor Jehan had undergone emergency treatment for health complications on April 5 that had left her partially paralysed. She died on April 22 after remaining critically ill for nine days.

Published in Dawn, April 28th, 2023