Editorial
Zoo in a precarious state
Run it properly, or close down
A report published in the daily Prothom Alo on Tuesday has made it amply clear why Dhaka Zoo falls so tragically short of meeting the requirements of anything approximating a modern zoo. It has only one veterinary surgeon for more than 2,000 captive animals!
The zoo witnessed premature deaths of animals over the years and many scandalous reports were carried by the print media regarding corruption and abysmal incompetence of the zoo authorities. The animals have to suffer through painful, almost oppressive, conditions in the zoo coming nowhere near their original habitats. They are kept in small cages and are deprived of foods and other necessary things. It has been reported time and again that callous and corrupt zoo employees are responsible for such a state of affairs. Not long ago, a photograph of badly emaciated rhino was published in this newspaper. The problem with such animals is that the zoo authorities do not know what to do with them. Obviously, hostile conditions and poor supply of foods make it almost impossible for the animals to survive. The animals are brought from abroad at a huge cost, only to be pushed to death through utter neglect. The overall situation prevailing here is an insult to the concept of a modern zoo.
The report that the zoo hospital does not have the required equipment and medicines for treating ailing animals shows that the serial deaths, which at times looked like an epidemic, did not sensitise the zoo bosses. Else, there would have been some improvement in this area.
It seems the zoo authorities are blissfully oblivious of the fact that a zoo is not a prison designed to punish the animals. Recreating the animals' natural abodes as far as possible is a task performed with great care in any zoo worth the name. It is not possible to keep the animals alive in an artificial setting for long, particularly when they are deprived of the basic necessities.
The authorities concerned have to review the situation. Without question they are aware of the poor management that has turned it into a squalid prison for the guest animals. The decision makers have to find out ways to make the zoo a reasonably good place for the animals to live in. If they cannot do anything to solve the zoo's problems, they should close it. After all, causing unbearable suffering to animals in the name of running a zoo is something abhorrent to human sensibilities.
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