ike humans, animals experience separation anxiety, leading to mental health issues. Elephants are used to living in herds and walking for miles every day. When they are caged and confined, it impacts their personalities and behaviour.

Kaavan’s was a classic example of separation anxiety and loneliness that led to psychological issues. The Sri Lankan government had gifted Kaavan to Gen Zia-ul Haq in 1985 and it was kept at the Marghazar Zoo in Islamabad. He lived at the zoo for 35 years. For a brief period, he even had a partner. However, she died and he became depressed and lonely. Four Paws, a global animal welfare organisation based in Vienna, Austria, assessed his condition, treated him and later shifted him to a sanctuary in Cambodia.

In 2009, four baby elephants were brought to Karachi from Tanzania. This separated them from their mothers and deprived them of mothers’ milk and social bonds with their herds.

Over time, they developed dental and foot infections. Last week, Four Paws were back in Pakistan after the Sindh High Court (SHC) directed Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) to allow the treatment of the elephants; Madhubala, Noor Jehan, Sonu and Malika.

The case gained momentum after Owais Awan, a lawyer and animal welfare activist who pursued Kavaan’s case, filed a petition along with the Pakistan Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) before the SHC for an independent medical assessment of the four elephants. The court appointed Dr Amir Khalil and the Four Paws team to examine them. In November 2021 the team travelled to Karachi, and conducted a medical assessment of the four elephants, followed by a report and a set of recommendations regarding the elephants’ health and wellbeing. The KMC wanted to handle the matter themselves, but eventually the SHC granted permission to Four Paws to treat the animals.

Awan says it is quite challenging to fight animal cruelty cases. “Our legal system is not very receptive to it,” he says. He says government needs to work on better laws. The old ones need to be revised in the interest of welfare of the animals.

Dr Amir Khalil led a team of veterinarians and wildlife experts, including Dr Frank Göritz and Dr Thomas Hildebrandt from the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW), who headed the surgery. Madhubala and Noor Jehan were at Karachi Zoo and suffered from dental problems. “Their tusks were broken and the tissue in the wounds was inflamed and infected. Lack of treatment could have caused the inflammation to expand and cause blindness or brain damage,” the Four Paws team says.

“Thirteen years in a cage at Karachi zoo led to Madhubala and Noor Jehan losing their tusks and suffering from a painful dental infection.”

The treatment lasted for a couple of hours. After an endoscopic examination, the team decided that the right tusk (45 centimetres long) of Madhubala was so rotten that it could not be removed in one piece and needed more careful treatment. Pieces of rotten tusk and inflamed tissue were removed using specially designed drills and endodontic burs alongside other dental instruments. In post-operative care, the elephants were provided with pain killers, antibiotics and vaccination. Four Paws says it was the longest operation ever for an elephant using standing sedation. The team also provided dental treatment to Noor Jahan. Later, Sonu and Malika were treated at the Safari Park. Dr Khalil suggests that once the elephants are fit and healthy, they be put together instead of living separately.

A second visit by international experts for the treatment of zoo animals has raised questions about the availability of drugs, surgical tools and human resources. Dr Zulfiqar Haider Otho, a private veterinarian from Karachi, says, “Pakistan has highly qualified doctors to treat the elephants and other animals but the equipment and specialised drugs used on elephants are not available in the country. This was the reason a request was made for international help.”

In the past few years animal rights activists have been very vocal in the country. This has resulted, among other reforms, in including content on the need for being kind to animals in school curricula. Many people, however, are still not aware of the impact of animal torture. Mahera Omar co-founder of Pakistan Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) explains the natural lifestyle and habitat of elephants: “Elephants live in herds and roam up to 24 miles a day in search of food and water. They have complex social, physical and behavioural needs that cannot be met by any zoo. Elephants are a keystone species. They play an important role in their native habitats. Their foraging activities spread the seeds of plants far and wide. The breaking of earth by their tusks creates craters that serve as watering holes for other animals. Life in a noisy cage, the chaining of three legs for up to 14 hours, the lack of exercise and free will do not make a good life by any stretch of imagination.”

There is a global movement against keeping wild animals in unnatural environments in the name of conservation, education and entertainment. Captivity inflicts unimaginable stress and physical ailments on the animals. “Thirteen years in a cage at Karachi zoo led to Madhubala and Noor Jehan losing their tusks and suffering from a painful dental infection,” says Omer.

Our society lacks empathy and kindness towards animals in general. Things have slowly started changing through the efforts of animal welfare activists and the media. Apart from having strict rules for animal keeping, it is important to raise awareness. Dr Otho says, “Zoo authorities should carry out academic sessions on animal rights and new research on animal behaviour. They should also take on board other departments to collaborate for raising awareness among the masses. They should also print literature about animal rights in Urdu and local languages.”

Last time the Four Paws team was in Pakistan to help treat Kaavan, a section of the society was worried about Pakistan’s international image. Similar concerns were voiced this time around. An animal’s wellbeing should not be ignored for such politics. In the end, the government’s efforts were applauded by animal rights activists worldwide.

The author is a freelance journalist. She can be reached at @umaimablogger on Twitter.