Can Pakistan save the last two of its four captive African elephants?
Four African elephants were brought from Tanzania to Pakistan in 2009. Two have died; now Madhubala is seriously ill and Malika faces health issues as vets fight to save them.
Pakistan is fighting to save the last two of four African elephants brought to the country from Tanzania in 2009, after two of the animals died in captivity.
Madhubala, one of the two surviving elephants, is now seriously ill, while Malika is also facing health problems. International veterinarians are working to save Madhubala as her condition deteriorates.
The plight of the elephants has raised fresh questions about the care of captive animals in Pakistan. An animal welfare activist has questioned repeated failures in their care, pointing to a pattern of neglect that campaigners say contributed to the deaths of the other two elephants.
The four elephants were brought to Pakistan in 2009 and housed in Karachi, where conditions for the animals have long drawn criticism from welfare groups. Captive elephants require vast space, specialised diets and expert veterinary care -- needs that campaigners say were never adequately met.
Pakistan's captive wildlife has made headlines before. The country's treatment of zoo animals has repeatedly sparked international concern, with experts arguing that elephants in particular suffer in small enclosures far from their natural habitats.
As vets battle to stabilise Madhubala, the case has renewed calls for Pakistan to overhaul how it keeps and cares for captive wild animals -- before the last two elephants are lost as well.
Source: Al Jazeera English — TrendWire reports stories in its own words; facts should be confirmed against the original source.