Capital Development Authority (CDA) Chairman Tariq Mehmood has ordered release of ill-fated elephant, which was chained and caged at Marghzar Zoo for the last one year. The elephant was gifted to the daughter of the then president General Zia-ul-Haq in 1986 by the government of Sri Lanka, had become the victim of wrangling between the CDA and the its caretaker.
At that time its cost was Rs 15 million. Later, due to some reason the elephant was shifted to Marghzar Zoo. The CDA Chairman on Wednesday ordered zoo Director Raja Muhammad Javed to release the elephant immediately. Talking to Business Recorder, Raja Javed said that the reason for not taking the elephant out of the cage was the rude attitude of Bilal, the elephant caretaker towards the other staff of the zoo appointed to look after it.
"The caretaker of the elephant, especially brought from Bahawalpur for this purpose, wanted to be the sole caretaker of the animal. However, the authority wanted to appoint more workers for this purpose. Therefore, it resulted in a riot among parties, he added.
He said that the elephant had been recovered, as she got injured when the caretaker put a chain around the elephant's leg. He said that the CDA did not try to unchain the elephant, as it had no trained staff that could control the elephant without the assistance of Bilal. On the other hand, Bilal denied the alleged claim of being the sole caretaker of the elephant. He said that the reason he did not allow others to unchain the elephant and take it out of cage was because the animal was too much attached with him and it did not allow any one to touch the elephant.
Therefore, for the safety of others, he did not want others to do this, Bilal said, adding but now after the strict directives of the CDA Chairman, the elephant would be unchained and taken out of the cage.