As a child, I had only seen animals through pictures and stories, especially volumes of “Cassette Kahanis” – a collection of tales narrated in Urdu and available on audio tapes. I still have a glimpse of a memory from the late 1980s, when my parents took me to the Lahore Zoo for the first time not just for outing but also to allow me to finally put faces to the names and physical form to creatures I had previously only seen in my imagination. It was a sensory overload, where imagination and reality were constantly colliding with each other.
Seeing the cute reptiles, the not-so-ugly beasts and the ferocious creatures up close was a turning point for me. And of course, there was the king of the jungle – the mighty lion – who everyone wanted to see and pat (of course that was not allowed). I was so fascinated by this majestic beast that every time I visited the zoo, the lions’ ‘den’, was the area that attracted me the most. As years went by, the number of lions in the zoo kept on changing, and we would often hear it in the news that the zoo had acquired new lions because the old ones died for one reason or the other.
The headlines blared out a disturbing reality for almost two decades, that lion after lion was dying in zoos “due to negligence” of the management. The stories highlighted the plight of the dwindling pride that is not even native to this country, as lions were last seen in the wild in this region in 1842 near Kot Diji in Sindh. Although lion sighting has been reported in recent years, especially in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, it is believed that they might have strayed into Pakistan, or it could be a misidentification of other big cats like leopards.
One thing for sure is that lions can only be found in captivity in Pakistan, with approximately 400 of them being kept at various public zoos, safari parks, private parks and farmhouses. Some of these facilities are not just providing a spectacle but also serving as sanctuaries for them, with the safari parks, especially the one in Lahore, focusing on their breeding. Just last year, the Lahore Safari Park had an upgrade, and earlier announced that its lion population had surpassed 40, with new cubs showing healthy growth.
Over in Karachi, a private zoo announced the birth of six white African lion cubs earlier this year, which shows that public as well as private facilities are utilizing good resources to keep the lions healthy. After all, maintaining big cats is not cheap. Most facilities around the globe understand that keeping lions adds a significant burden to their resources. In Pakistan, feeding a single lion means meat worth tens of thousands of rupees per day. Now imagine accumulative cost of caring for 40 lions. And that is just the beginning.
There is veterinary care, enrichment activities, ice-blocks to keep them cool during summer, and proper housing, all of which require substantial investments. Many facilities have struggled to meet these requirements, so they preferred to let the animals die of “natural causes”, as reported in the media. Later, insiders leak information about how financial constraints forced zoo authorities to cut back on essential services and compromised the animals’ welfare. But don’t lions draw visitors significantly? Aren’t they an essential part of revenue generation? Then why so many mortalities due to malnutrition and lack of care over the years?
Yes, it is a paradox, as lions are not just an asset but also a liability. What most facilities need to do – other than wait for funding – is balance the two. A notable exception is the Safari Park in Lahore, which has managed to balance its financial as well as welfare responsibilities, evident from new rules it has introduced for the welfare of animals, especially lions. Another thing I have not seen that frequently in so many years is public awareness and education.
While zoos have been open to adoption – where people can pay for the upkeep of animals and in exchange have their names displayed on the cages – there is a need to engage and inform the public regarding the conservation of animals. On-premises events like seminars could be arranged periodically to inform the masses about the challenges faced by lions at those facilities. The services of media outlets, schools and conservation organizations as well as animal rights activists could be sought to spread the message, and subsequently garner greater support.
The main goal should be to create a culture of respect and greater care for the wildlife, and engaging the younger generation in this regard will surely help preserve these creatures. On the World Lion Day, celebrated globally on August 10 every year, we should pledge to play our part in ensuring welfare of these special cats. Remember, a lion’s roar is a symbol of dominance that could be heard for miles, but can we actually tell whether it is a roar or a cry? I implore you to reason, and play a significant role in protecting and honoring these symbols of the wild.