Daily Times

Sir: Walking into the Karachi zoo was like taking scroll through my memory lane. When I was a child, we would come to the zoo and see lush green gardens. Everything was clean and the animals were in good health.

However, I went to the zoo with my family recently and it was disappointing. The glory of the zoo has been diminishing owing to a lack of maintenance on the part of the authority concerned.

The great elephant-ride – one of my favourite memories of the zoo was not there anymore as it was discontinued. The zoo appeared to be more of a desert than a lush green habitat for the animals. Elephants were roaming in the barren and dusty cage. There was no such distance between the visitors and animal enclosures that was hard for kids to spot the animals.

The turtle did not have a pond whereas the pond for ducks was so dirty that white duck came out green after a swim. Usually the animals need a wash and overall the cages lack cleanliness.

It was said that in the cosmopolitan city like Karachi we lack recreational places for children. Karachi zoo is an affordable recreational activity for young and old people. Many of us cannot afford privately maintained facilities. Being under the jurisprudence of Karachi Metropolitan Corporation, the official concerned should be held accountable for the maintenance and renovation of the zoo. I request the concerned authorities and the zoo management to look into the matter and do something for the uplift and management of the oldest zoo of the city.

ZARNAB NADIR

Karachi

Published in Daily Times, March 24^th 2019.