Lahore Safari Zoo to auction a dozen lions

PAKISTAN: A Pakistan zoo is auctioning off a dozen lions to private collectors next week to free up space for pride that won’t stop growing.

The Lahore Safari Zoo now has so many big cats that their lions and tigers have to take in turns accessing the paddocks, said Tanvir Ahmed Janjua, the zoo’s deputy director.

“Not only will we free up more space here, but our expenses for meat to feed them will also decrease,” he said.

The zoo is currently home to 29 lions, and officials plan an auction on August 11 to sell 12 of them, aged between two and five years old.

There are also six resident tigers and two jaguars. Conservationists are opposed to the sale, with the environmental group WWF saying the creatures should be moved to other established zoos, or breeding females sterilised or given contraceptives.

“Animal exchanges and donations between zoos are a widely accepted practice,” the organisation’s Uzma Khan said.

“Once an institution such as a zoo places a price tag on a wildlife species it is promoting trade — which is counterproductive to conservation,” she added.

Zoo officials have set a reserve of Pakistan Rs. 150,000 Pakistan (US$700) per cat, but hope each will fetch around RS. 2 million.

– THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS