KARACHI: A team of doctors and vets in Pakistan has developed a novel treatment for a pair of elephants suffering from tuberculosis that involves feeding them at least 400 pills a day.
The jumbo effort by staff at the Karachi Safari Park involves cunningly administering the tablets, the same as those used to treat TB in humans, hidden inside food ranging from apples and bananas to Pakistani sweets.
Dr. Buddhika Bandara, a Sri Lankan veterinary surgeon who is treating elephants Madhubala and Malika, said they did not have a “rare disease” as tuberculosis was common in elephants in Asia.
“Giving treatment of TB to elephants is always challenging whenever, whatever and wherever, is always challenging not only in our country Sri Lanka, or in Pakistan, it is challenging everywhere actually,” the vet said.
“Every day we have to think about new methods of giving medicine.”
Bandara said the elephants showed some stress when the treatment was first started but gradually adapted to the procedure and were now getting better.
Under the treatment plan, the elephants will receive medication and monitoring for ten months after the initial phase. They are being kept under round-the-clock supervision, and park officials have restricted access to the enclosure for one year to minimize stress and prevent any risk of disease transmission.
Ali Baloch, a 22-year-old mahout, said though he looked after the elephants, he was unaware that they had TB.
“The team is saying now that they have the disease. That’s why we must wear mask, and boots, do not go without them. It can infect me and my children as well.”
The two elephants Malika and Madhubala took their medication differently, he added.
“Malika takes medicine by her trunk while Madhubala can take it directly by her mouth,” Baloch said. “They eat in this way. Malaika smells medicine so she takes by its trunk. To change the taste, we give medicine in sweet potatoes, bananas and other sweet items.”
The novel methods had to be used to ensure the elephants did not reject the treatment.
“They will not eat these [pills] so easily, they are bitter in taste.”
Visitors to the Safari Park are currently only allowed to view the elephants from designated buses or a safe distance, as part of efforts to ensure a stress-free environment during their recovery.
The cautious approach follows years of concern raised by international animal welfare organizations over the treatment of elephants in Karachi.
In 2021, the global group Four Paws assessed the city’s elephants and called for urgent medical care, improved nutrition and enriched environments to support their wellbeing.
The issue gained further attention after the deaths of two elephants — Noor Jehan in 2023 at the Karachi Zoo and Sonu in late 2024 at the Safari Park — both of which highlighted systemic gaps in animal care.
Since then, local authorities have taken steps to improve conditions, including the formation of a technical committee and increased collaboration with foreign veterinary experts.
Madhubala, Noor Jehan, Malika and Sonu were caught in the wild at a young age and brought to Pakistan together in 2009 but were soon separated, with Noor Jehan and Madhubala moved to the Karachi Zoo and Malika and Sonu to the city’s Safari Park.
Noor Jehan died in April 2023 at age 17, following a prolonged illness caused by neglect, leaving Madhubala alone.
In November last year, she was reunited with Malika and Sonu at the Safari Park. Sonu has since also passed away due to illness.
