Pakistan

Elephant in distress: Cries of crippled ‘Noor Jehan’ echo around the world

Published

1 year ago

Farwa

Four Paws team arrives to help Noor Jehan spins into action.
Cranes, heavy machinery used for examining Noor Jehan’s feet
International vets to perform x-rays, endoscopies of afflicted limbs.

KARACHI: A team of veterinarians and wildlife experts from the global animal welfare organisation Four Paws visited Karachi Zoo to help with the health assessment and treatment of the deteriorating condition of ailing Noor Jehan, the elephant.

The team of a dozen international experts, led by Egyptian veterinarian Dr Amir Khalil arrived in Pakistan on Tuesday in response to a request made by Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC), which runs the zoo.

The team also met with Karachi Administrator Dr Syed Saifur Rahman and the zoo management, according to a KMC press statement, to discuss certain arrangements required to run physical and radiological scans on the crippled elephant.

The team on Wednesday examined the pachyderm’s feet for which she needed to be put into an upright position, said Dr Rehman adding, cranes and other heavy machinery were brought in for the purpose.

The teams asked for treatment-related facilities and they were provided The Karachi administrator said the international team of experts had been provided everything to assist them in thoroughly looking into the elephant’s conditions

Talking to the media, Marina Ivanova, a member of the international team, said the elephant was supported by a crane to stand on her feet to examine her painful ankle, which would take at least two hours.

“A report will be prepared after checking the infection in the elephant’s toe,” Ivanova said adding, “X-ray and endoscopy of elephant’s foot will also be done.”

Four Paws’ team leader, Dr Amir Khalil said in his team was doing everything possible to bring the elephant back on her feet.

“The elephant has been made to get up with the help of a crane and if it is allowed to lie down again on the ground, it will be impossible for us to stand her up again,” Dr Khalil said.

According to a press statement issued by Four Paws, recent reports and images show Noor Jehan in serious physical distress.

The 17-year-old African elephant will receive a thorough veterinary examination to determine her future care, it said.

“Since 2021, Four Paws has strongly recommended to relocate Noor Jehan and her companion Madhubala from Karachi Zoo to a species-appropriate place that offers better living conditions for the elephants,” the statement said.

However, no measures to relocate them have been taken, it added.

“Pakistan has taken great steps for animal welfare in the last three years by protecting the natural rights of animals under the Constitution and banning elephant imports, as recommended by Four Paws,” the animal welfare organisation said.

Josef Pfabigan, the global CEO of Four Paws, said the lack of action to improve the lives of the elephants at Karachi Zoo was a setback.
“We have already seen what strategic policy work and good relations between animal welfare experts and local officials can achieve, and we hope that we can achieve even more together.”

By building a strong foundation for animal welfare, “we can make a change for suffering animals, in Pakistan and worldwide,” Pfabigan said.

Latest News

Lahore, PP-161: LHC deems the ECP recounting order null and invalid

Published

22 hours ago

Farwa

Farrukh Javed, the victorious candidate, filed a petition against the Election Commission of Pakistan’s order to recount the votes in PP-161 before a single bench of the high court, led by Justice Shahid Karim, was formed.

The bench dismissed the ECP’s order to recount the votes in the constituency and accepted the petition.

The PML-N candidate Umar Sohail filed a petition for a vote recount with the electoral commission, according to Unmute Farrukh Javed MPA’s court plea.

Per the petitioner, the electoral commission issued a notice of vote recount after granting the second-place candidate’s request.

In his view, the election process was not yet over when the ECP issued the order for a vote recount.

The ECP’s order for the recounting of ballots in provincial constituency PP-161 was revoked by the bench after it allowed the petition.

Latest News

The LHC has issued a summons regarding the policy on wheat procurement.

Published

22 hours ago

Farwa

The court was considering a petition filed by the Punjab farmers challenging the province government’s decision to decline purchasing wheat from them.

The petitioner alleged that the government is legally obligated to procure wheat from farmers at the designated price and had publicised a policy to purchase wheat from farmers at Rs 3,900 per maund. However, the government has failed to put this policy into effect.

The Punjab government was scheduled to commence the procurement of wheat from farmers on April 22. However, there has been no progress thus far in the wheat purchase, thereby exposing farmers to the risk of selling their harvests at reduced prices as a result of rainfall.

The petitioner implored the court to mandate the government’s procurement of wheat from farmers and to initiate measures against the mafia.

Punjab farmers have filed a petition with the Lahore High Court (LHC) to challenge the government’s decision to not purchase their wheat.

Following an initial hearing on the case, Justice Shahid Karim, the judge of the LHC, requested a documentation of the Punjab government’s choices pertaining to wheat purchase.

Punjab’s farmers are currently protesting the government’s decision to postpone the purchase of wheat from them.

Yesterday, insiders from the Food Department disclosed that the Punjab government has not yet made a decision regarding the procurement of wheat.

Latest News

Lahore experiences a winter-like ambiance following rainfall.

Published

23 hours ago

Farwa

Lahore’s maximum temperature has significantly decreased due to recent rainfall in the province capital over the past 24 hours.

Jail Road saw a rainfall of 8.5 millimeters, Gulberg received 10 millimeters, and Lakshmi Chowk received 14 millimeters of rainfall. In addition, Upper Mall received a rainfall measurement of 5 millimeters, Mughalpura received 3.5 millimeters, and Tajpura received 3 millimeters.

In addition, Nishtar Town received a rainfall of 1 millimeter, Pani Wala Talab received 12 millimeters, Farukh Abad received 4 millimeters, Gulshan Ravi received 20 millimeters, Iqbal Town received 6 millimeters, Samanabad received 8 millimeters, and Johar Town received 1 millimeter.

The city’s electricity transmission infrastructure has been significantly affected by the rain, resulting in the tripping of over 100 Lesco feeders. Multiple localities had power outages as a result of tripped feeders and other technical malfunctions.

Power outages have resulted in substantial discomfort for people in several localities, including as Manawan, Batapur, Sabzazar, Gulshan Ravi, Samanabad, Pir Nasir, Mughalpura, Shalimar, Mustafa Abad, Baghbanpura, Ferozpur Road, Islampura, Qila Gujjar Singh, and Walton Road.