THIS is with reference to the report “KMC sets up body to assess zoo bear Rano’s health” (Jan 17). Rano deserves to be sent to the bear sanctuary in Balkasar. Rano is the lone Himalayan brown bear in captivity at the zoo in Karachi. The harsh effects of captivity on wild animals lead to zoochosis that entails repetitive stereotypical behaviour, such as head bobbing, swaying, rocking, weaving, pacing, licking bars, over-grooming and self-mutilation. Rano, too, suffers from zoochosis. Unable to fulfil any of her species-specific needs that she otherwise would in the wild, she has been seen pacing relentlessly.

Once at the sanctuary, Rano would have access to green vegetation, natural climbing structures, ponds, dens, peace and quiet. Best of all, she would be in the company of other bears. The ethical thing is to retire her to the sanctuary before the end of January while the weather is cold for the journey.

Rano has already spent eight years at the zoo. Her cage to at the zoo happens to be next to a noisy rollercoaster ride with loudspeakers blaring announcements. She is exposed to taunts from visitors, and the city’s heat and air pollution.

If not shifted to the sanctuary, Rano may meet a fate similar to elephants Noor Jehan and Sonia, both of whom died young. In the wild, she would spend her days foraging for flowers, fruits, berries, grasses, insects and small mammals, such as the marmot. Confined to a barren cage in a hot city, she is deprived of any opp-ortunity to exhibit her natural behaviours.

Around October each year, brown bears go into hibernation for six months, emerging from their dens in April or May. In the absence of a purpose-built bear sanctuary in the cold north of Pakistan, bears, such as Rano, cannot hibernate in winter. It is all the more reason Rano should be sent to Pakistan’s only national bear sanctuary.

Rano likely was poached from the wild as a cub, and spent years in captivity elsewhere before being brought to the zoo in Karachi in 2017, along with a male Asiatic black bear. The pair was made to live inside the same Victorian-era cement pit that housed Emma, who died in 2013. The black bear died soon after. It took a court order to shift Rano to the current cage which is abysmally inappropriate for a bear.

Zoos are dark relics of our colonial past. We must instead shift our focus on efforts to increase urban biodiversity and protect our native wildlife species in the wild. It is time we phased out zoos and built wild-life sanctuaries and rehabilitation centres instead. It is time to end Rano’s inhumane captivity and to retire her to the sanctuary.

Mahera Omar
Karachi

Published in Dawn, January 31st, 2025