LAHORE • The Lahore Zoo gift shop will be closed because it has been suffering losses, whereas animals and visitors alike are being inconvenienced because of construction at various sites in the first phase of the Lahore Zoo master plan, Punjab Wildlife Department sources said in this central Pakistan city yesterday.
Several ditches can be seen on the zoo premises because of excessive digging to renovate cages, and the zoo’s incubator is out of order as well. No signboards have been put up to tell visitors about the cages to which animals have been shifted.
Sources said that construction equipment had been thrown everywhere. Khadeeja, a bank employee visiting the zoo, said that the zoo was in a mess because visitors had no idea of where to go, and she had wasted her money on the ticket.
Mansoor, another visitor, said that most cages could not be seen because of heaps of mud. Expressing displeasure over the stinking water in cages of the rhinos and water birds, he said the zoo administration should put up signboards, telling people where to find what.
Murad, another visitor with his family, said the zoo administration should offer a concession on tickets because most animals had been shifted to other cages.
Sources said that the incubator had been out of order for several months, but the administration had done nothing in this regard. They said that around 500 eggs of 100 peacocks had been sent to Jallo Wildlife Park, which had an incubator as well.
Around 150 of the 500 peacock eggs had already hatched, they said, adding that eggs of more than 20 pheasants have also been sent to the park.
Sources said the gift shop had earned only Rs23,000 since it was opened a year ago in former Lahore Zoo director Raja Javed’s tenure, in collaboration with World Wide Fund for Nature. WWF provides products to be sold at the shop, and the parties get 50 per cent each of the profit.
Lahore Zoo Director Yousaf Pal admitted that people were being inconvenienced because of the construction. He said that the construction was part of the master plan, and it was being carried out to benefit animals and visitors.
A proposal for a new incubator had been sent to authorities concerned and it was likely to be approved, he said, adding, “We try to live up to people’s expectations.
Yes, we are closing the gift shop because it is has been suffering losses.”
