Another giraffe dies at Peshawar zoo

Another giraffe died at the Peshawar zoo on Monday, taking the death toll to four.

Only two giraffes remain at the zoo, out of the six that it had received.

According to the zoo director, the giraffe had severe diarrhea and the animal was being treated for it but was unable to survive.

Reports suggest that 19 animals have died at the zoo in the last 13 months.

On August 3, a case was filed in the Peshawar High Court against the negligence of the city’s zoo administration. Petitioners claimed that many animals have died at the zoo because of their lack of care.

The petitioners have requested that the condition of the zoo should be upgraded as per international standards and animals not suited to the climate of Peshawar should be shifted to a sanctuary or some other zoo in Pakistan.

Pakistan Wildlife Foundation Vice Chairperson Safwan Ahmed said that the design of the Peshawar zoo is not suited for the animals kept there and criticised the structure of its cages. “The caretakers of the animals, too, have not been trained properly,” he claimed.

Peshawar Zoo has been in the limelight since it was inaugurated on February 22, 2018 because of the frequent mistreatment of animals and their deaths reported there. Its construction met with opposition by multiple civil society and animal rights organisations in 2018. The government, however, did not take them into consideration.

In 2018, a monkey died at the zoo. The zoo officials said that it died because of old age but the zoo staffers said it was attacked by a wolf kept in the cage next to the monkeys. The same year, a fallow deer and snow leopard died. The Peshawar High Court had taken notice of the snow leopard’s death.