LAHORE, April 6: A Barbary sheep, now extinct in Pakistan, has given birth to a lamb in captive breeding at Jallo Park. Jallo Wildlife section assistant director Anwar Maan told Dawn the gender of the newly born lamb had yet not been identified. He said the mother neither accepted the lamb nor fed it if a human hand touched it. “We are waiting for the lamb to reach the age of a month at least so that we may touch the new arrival.”

Mr Maan said Barbary sheep was once found in Northern Areas some 30 years ago but the relentless hunting caused its extinction. Presently, the only Barbary pair was found in Jallo Park that gave birth to a lamb under captive breeding which was a great success, he said.

He said the pair had been brought from the Lahore Zoo some one year back in a very vulnerable condition. That was the sole reason that the pair could not produce any lamb there, he said.

Lahore Zoo director Yousaf Pal claimed that the pair was healthy and in good condition at the zoo. He said when former director Raja Javed had bought the pair, he was deputy director at Jallo Wildlife section.

Lahore zoo: Animals at the Lahore Zoo are healthy and being brought up well, officials claim.

Zoo director Yousaf Pal said the number of Mufflin sheep in the zoo had reached the figure of 15 with the birth of five lambs in February.

He said there were 14 spotted deer and another five were added to it. Now four male and one female (spotted deer) had been shifted to different parks.

The Chinkara deer also gave birth to a fawn this month and some of the 22 had been shifted to different parks.

The zoo had seven hog deer, one of which had recently been donated to it.