KARACHI: The years-long plight of the brown bear Rano seems to be over very soon after the Sindh High Court on Tuesday ordered the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) to relocate the animal from

Karachi Zoological Gardens to the Bear Sanctuary managed by the Islamabad Wildlife Management Board within two days.

The SHC also ruled that the transfer of the female Himalayan bear must take place through air cargo under the supervision of a senior official of the wildlife department and directed the KMC to extend cooperation and ensure the shifting.

In March 2017, the bear was transferred from a breeding farm and research centre to the Karachi Zoological Gardens under an animal exchange programme and held in solitary confinement within a small and barren concrete pit.

Bench directs KMC, wildlife authorities to transfer the brown bear via air cargo

Animal rights activist Jude Allen Pereira had petitioned the SHC, through his counsel Jibran Nasir, stating that the bear was deprived of species-specific environmental enrichment, suitable climatic conditions and necessary medical care.

When a two-judge bench comprising Justice Muhammad Iqbal Kalhoro and Justice Syed Fiaz-ul-Hassan Shah took up the matter on Tuesday, senior KMC official Ikhlaq Ahmed Yousafzai and Sindh Wildlife Conservator Javed Ahmed Mahar were in attendance along with the counsel for the KMC.

Justice Kalhoro asked them as to how could the brown bear be kept in such conditions and what was the fault of the animal as it had been kept at the same place for last seven years. He also remarked that why the officials concerned were not doing their duty and waiting for court orders in almost every case.

When the bench inquired about the treatment, the KMC counsel claimed that the bear was in good health and being kept in reasonable conditions. The bench confronted them and asked whether there was any scientific evidence to support their claim. The counsel suggested that a veterinary team may be constituted to exam the bear.

Petitioner’s counsel Jibran Nasir argued that a committee had already recommended relocation of Rano to the Balkasar Bear Sanctuary in Punjab.

He submitted that bear had been kept in one place for seven years and she was in “extreme distress, as a result of which she often hits her head on the cage, causing injury. Rano has developed worms in her wound”.

After hearing both sides, the bench in its order said that the KMC official and the wildlife conservator had undertaken that arrangements would be made to shift the brown bear from the Karachi zoo to the Bear Sanctuary, Islamabad Wildlife Management Board, in two days.

“The KMC is directed to cooperate with the said officials and ensure that aforesaid transfer shall take place through air cargo under supervision of Mr. Javed Ahmed Mahar, conservator, wildlife department, Govt. of Sindh, who is present today in the court, in two days without fail. In case of failure, senior director, zoo shall be present in person on the next date of hearing to explain non-compliance of the order,” it added.

Adjourning the hearing till Oct 17, the bench also noted that the bear was alone as its companion had died way back in the year 2020.

In his petition, Mr Pereira stated that he was an animal rights activist and approached the court in public interest to seek declaration of recognition of animal cruelty to the female brown bear, currently confined at the Karachi zoo in violation of relevant law.

The petitioner impugned non-implementation of recommendations made by a committee, constituted by the senior director zoo, which recommended relocation of Rano to the Balkasar Bear Sanctuary in Punjab till DNA sequencing is conducted to identify its exact species as the respondents claimed Rano to be a Syrian bear while the petitioner believed that it might be a Himalayan bear, which is a critically endangered species.

He further argued that the committee had also recommended further shifting of the bear to an appropriate habitat upon confirmation of its exact species and stated that the continued confinement of the female bear at the Karachi Zoo was illegal, unconstitutional and in violation the Sindh Wildlife Protection, Preservation, Conservation and Management Act, 2020 and the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1890.

The petitioner cited the KMC through the Karachi mayor, senior director of zoo KMC and secretary of Sindh Council for Conservation of Wildlife as respondents.

Published in Dawn, October 15th, 2025