The animal park in Karachi, the large city in southern Pakistan, announced on Sunday the death of an elephant who had just been reunited with one of her sisters, while the fate of captive pachyderms is being scrutinized by animal rights activists.
Park director Syed Amjad Hussain Zaidi told AFP that an autopsy would be carried out in the coming days.
Sonia the elephant “was doing well” at his last health examination around ten days ago, he said, noting that the Austrian NGO Four Paws had visited him at the end of November.
The issue is sensitive in Pakistan where mistreatment of animals is common.
In 2012, Kaavan, a 35-year-old obese pachyderm held at the Islamabad zoo, moved the whole world. American singer Cher had campaigned to extract him from his cramped concrete enclosure to a reserve in Cambodia. He was the only Asian elephant in the country and had lived alone since the death of his companion Saheli in 2012.
In 2009, four African elephants, sisters captured very young in the wild, arrived in Pakistan.
Noor Jehan and Madhubala had joined the Karachi zoo, which, according to Four Paws, does not meet international standards. And Malika and Sonia had been taken care of by the city’s animal park, which, according to animal rights activists, offers better conditions for the animals.
In April 2023, the zoo announced the death of Noor Jehan at age 17. Four Paws had accused the zoo’s medical team of failings and demanded Madhubala’s transfer to the park.
Fifteen years after their separation, the three sisters still alive were finally reunited less than two weeks ago.
“Today, after Sonia’s death, we have two elephants left”indicated the park director.
