ISLAMABAD: The female elephant at Marghzar Zoo had to spend a night in the open braving frost as attendants could not chain the male inside the cage on Wednesday.

According to sources, the male elephant is tied with two chains (one in each leg) as the female has to share the cage with him at night. On Wednesday, the male elephant’s one chain was untied due to which the female elephant was brought out lest it get harmed.

Zoo attendants Riaz and Adil repeatedly attempted to chain the elephant up for the night but failed till dusk. In the end, it was decided that the female should be kept outside the covered boundary.

Problems related to the elephants in the zoo could not be resolved for the last two months as former mahaut (Bilal), who had been taking care of them for over two decades, was suspended by the management.

An official of CDA requesting not to be named said: “Money is the main issue behind the dispute on elephants. Every director wants to depute his close person at the cage because visitors give money to the female elephant and distribution of thatmoney becomes a bone of contention. Former mahaut was very close to the elephants and he could easily chain them but the management was not ready to give him the charge just because of the money”.

Another official said each elephant is worth Rs15 million and the practice of leaving them in the open in chilling weather might prove fatal for them but the zoo management has been pulling legs for just a few thousand rupees which are collected every day.

When contacted, Deputy Director General Environment Wing, Malik Aulya Khan told Dawn that it was not in his knowledge that the elephant had been unchained. He said he would look into the matter and resolve the problem. Commenting on the female elephant having spent the night out, he said elephant is a very strong animal and will not die of cold.