animal auctioning: socially irresponsible?
What is animal auctioning and why is Lahore Safari Zoo selling off its lions?
Selling off animals to the bidder paying the highest price for them is known as animal
auctioning. Over the years, the trade of exotic animals has increased in Pakistan. The Lahore
Safari Zoo is going to auction off a dozen lions, aged between 2 and 5 years old, to private
collectors next week. According to the zoo’s deputy director, Tanvir Ahmed Janjua, it is
necessary to sell these lions to control their population, free up space and reduce expenditure
on their feed. Zoo officials have set a reserve of 150,000 rupees per cat as of now.
The issue at hand
It is common for wealthy individuals in Pakistan to own exotic animals, including lions and tigers,
to post their videos and pictures online to show off their social status. Currently, no stringent
laws exist to make owning these wild animals as pets illegal. Oftentimes, owners of such
animals are unable to take proper care of them. Therefore, conservationists and environmental
organizations like WWF have criticized this upcoming auction, claiming that putting a price tag
on wildlife species promotes their trade, which is counterproductive to conservation. This can
have a devastating impact on the wildlife species in Pakistan.
Previous complaints against Lahore Zoo Safari
According to an article published by Dawn a few years ago, visitors have often lamented the fact
that the zoo doesn’t have basic facilities including water coolers, clean washrooms and decent
benches to sit on. Furthermore, the animals need more attention and better management. Some
reviewers claimed that the animals looked distressed and most of the enclosures are
inadequate for their needs.
The general conditions of zoos in Pakistan
It is a known fact that the majority of the zoos in Pakistan are poorly managed, where many
animals have died due to negligence and improper management. There have been several
reports of animals dying due to being unfed for weeks and not being duly treated for diseases.
The story of the ‘loneliest elephant on the planet’, Kaavan drew international condemnation
when individuals around the world pitied his situation of being in solitary confinement for years.
He was finally freed in 2021 when pop singer Cher and other foreign activists protested about
his plight. Moreover, a lot of zoos lack veterinary professionals and animals have been found to
be suffering from mental illnesses developing from loneliness and congested enclosures.
Alternate solutions
Although Janjua has assured that the winning bidders will have to register with provincial
authorities to guarantee that they have the resources to provide the cats with proper shelter and
food, animal rights activists aren’t convinced yet. A zoo veterinary officer told AFP that an
attempt to auction lions last year proved to be unsuccessful because the buyers lacked the
necessary documentation. Already, there is little legislation for the welfare of animals across
Pakistani zoos and they have been reported to mistreat the animals and keep them under cruel
conditions before. Accordingly, conservationists and netizens have suggested other ways to
control the problem of the lion population; sending them off to reputed sanctuaries abroad,
letting them go free and giving contraceptives to female cats. Many African sanctuaries are
willing to sponsor these wild cats, which will save us the cost of transporting them. Giving
contraceptives to lionesses will reduce reproduction, resulting in a decrease in their numbers.
However, setting them free into the wild might not be a feasible solution since these lions have
been raised in captivity and they won’t be able to hunt for themselves and survive for a long
period.