KARACHI: Foreign veterinary experts recently reported to Sindh High Court that four elephants being kept at the Karachi Zoo and the Safari Park had severe foot and dental problems.
Earlier, The SHC had appointed Dr Frank Goeritz, Veterinarian Head, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Germany, to check the elephants’ health. He filed an improvised examination report on the health of the four elephants and suggested immediate actions for the treatment of the animals and long-term measures for their health.
Filing an ad-hoc examination report on the health of the four elephants, Dr Frank Goeritz, head veterinarian of the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Germany, suggested immediate actions for the treatment of the animals and long-term measures for their health. The court had earlier appointed Dr Goeritz to check the elephants’ health.
The veterinary experts submitted in their preliminary findings that the overall physical conditions of all the four elephants were good. However, the recent report suggested that animals are slightly overweight, develop mild subcutaneous oedema (accumulation of body water in the tissue).
Among them, two elephants at the Karachi Zoo had severe dental problems, which included broken tusks with exposed and infected pulp cavities, experts said. In contrast, two elephants at the Safari Park had severe foot problems, cracked nails, overgrown footpads, malformed and overgrown nails and abscesses.
They also submitted that Sonu the elephant presented as male turned out to be female.
The experts recommended immediate surgical removal of the damaged and infected tusks, with subsequent topical and general anti-infectious and anti-inflammatory treatment.
They also suggested that medical training might be integrated into the daily routine to provide proper foot care to the elephants.
