KARACHI: Implementation has begun on the Sindh High Court’s directive to relocate Rano, a brown bear kept at Karachi Zoo, officials said on Wednesday, after a petition highlighted years of neglect, isolation and distress in an unsuitable tropical enclosure.
The bear is now set to be transferred to the mountainous Gilgit-Baltistan region, Sindh’s chief secretary Sindh Asif Hyder Shah said.
For years, Rano has languished in a tropical urban zoo environment far removed from her Himalayan habitat. Animal-welfare petitioners told the court she had been kept “in the same place for seven years,” developed head injuries and shown signs of stress, including banging her head on cage bars and maggot-infested wounds.
In this regard, Chief Secretary Shah chaired a high-level meeting at the Sindh Secretariat on Wednesday to review the relocation of the bear. He directed the Wildlife Department to submit a case for the provincial cabinet to enact a ban on the import of exotic (non-native) animals.
“Rano must not be forcibly captured or sedated during the transfer process,” Shah said. “She should voluntarily enter the transport cage through gradual and positive reinforcement training methods.”
Officials said a specially designed iron cage meeting all safety standards has been prepared for the relocation. Wildlife experts and trainers are conducting daily training sessions to help Rano adjust. Rano has reportedly begun eating honey from a ranger’s hand, indicating trust and progress. The transfer will first go to Islamabad, then onwards to a sanctuary in Gilgit-Baltistan, according to court orders.
Shah also noted that Pakistan is party to international conventions including the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), and stressed that “wildlife protection and ethical management of animals must be ensured in all zoos and wildlife habitats across Sindh in accordance with both local and international standards.”
