KARACHI: The Indus Valley School of Arts and Architecture in collaboration with the I Am Noor Jehan Movement presented, on Wednesday, a powerful coming together of art, advocacy and truth on Earth Day, which coincided with the third death anniversary of Noor Jehan, the elephant who tragically suffered and died at the Karachi Zoo in 2023.
Participants at a panel discussion titled ‘A Call to Conscience’ stressed that Earth Day is not just about the environment but also about all life that depends on it.
Dedicated animal welfare activist Jude Allen said that animal welfare needs to be pushed for with consistency. He shared how he was able to have Madhubala, the elephant, shifted from Karachi Zoo to the Safari Park and Rano, the Himalayan brown bear, relocated from the Karachi Zoo to a wildlife sanctuary in Islamabad.
“Here at the zoo, the bear was drinking water from a small pond in her enclosure which also had her faeces. Meanwhile, she also had maggots that were eating her brain,” Jude remembered with a shudder.
He also recalled Madhubala’s agony. “The elephant was alone and grieving after Noor Jehan’s death at the Karachi Zoo. She needed to be reunited with her sisters, Malika and Sonu, at Safari Park or she would have reached a fate similar to her partner Noor Jehan,” he said.
Wildlife activists remember elephant Noor Jehan on Earth Day; posters made by schoolchildren call for zoos to be shut down
“When I visited Islamabad during the winter hoping to meet Rano at the sanctuary, I was informed that she was hibernating. But sensing my presence, Rano woke up and came out to greet me. She spent five minutes with me before going back to sleep,” he smiled, adding how animals show their love and appreciation.
“While helping animals we continue to face challenges from here and there but we remain consistent in our efforts to get results,” he added.
Environmentalist Tofiq Pasha Mooraj said that it is a shame that animals do not at all figure in our plans. “Imagine asking the government to install powerful lights in the Karachi Zoo. So what about the zoo animals who fall asleep at sun down? Imagine asking to close the Frere Gardens behind walls and big gates,” he said. “We have to keep fighting against such things constantly,” he added.
“I have six to seven dogs at my place who used to be strays. But I’m looked at with surprise. People don’t understand why I care for dogs at a time when people are killing each other. They want all dogs eradicated from the planet. To them I say let’s eradicate humans to help our planet flourish again because it is humans who are the main cause of the plant’s destruction,” he joked.
Filmmaker Mohammad Ali Ijaz, who makes documentaries about the environment and who has documented the work for the rehabilitation of injured and orphaned animals at a sanctuary in Islamabad, said that each animal at the sanctuary has a heartbreaking story. “The people who run the Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre in Islamabad are people who truly love animals and go out of their way to care for them. And they know what they are doing, taking their dedication to the next level,” he said.
Animal rights activist Haris Ibrahim said that he loves animals so much that if anyone is rude or unkind to them he will be the same to them. “It got me arrested too,” he said, adding that he was put behind bars for standing up for a cat being stepped on and licked by a cruel individual.
Earlier, the documentary Haven in the Hills: Islamabad’s Wildlife Ark, produced by Mohammad Ali Ijaz, was screened. The 12-minute film showcases the Rescue & Rehabilitation Centre for wild animals at the site of the old Islamabad Zoo, which was shut down by the Islamabad High Court in 2020.
The gathering, screening and panel discussion was followed by the viewing of a student protest through an art exhibition titled Shut Down Zoos by the students of several schools in the city.
Published in Dawn, April 23rd, 2026
