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KARACHI: Implementation has begun on the Sindh High Court’s directive to relocate Rano, a brown bear kept at Karachi Zoo, officials said on Wednesday, after a petition highlighted years of neglect, isolation and distress in an unsuitable tropical enclosure. 

The bear is now set to be transferred to the mountainous Gilgit-Baltistan region, Sindh’s chief secretary Sindh Asif Hyder Shah said.

For years, Rano has languished in a tropical urban zoo environment far removed from her Himalayan habitat. Animal-welfare petitioners told the court she had been kept “in the same place for seven years,” developed head injuries and shown signs of stress, including banging her head on cage bars and maggot-infested wounds.
In this regard, Chief Secretary Shah chaired a high-level meeting at the Sindh Secretariat on Wednesday to review the relocation of the bear. He directed the ‎Wildlife Department to submit a case for the provincial cabinet to enact a ban on the import of exotic (non-native) animals.

“Rano must not be forcibly captured or sedated during the transfer process,” Shah said. “She should voluntarily enter the transport cage through gradual and positive reinforcement training methods.”

Officials said a specially designed iron cage meeting all safety standards has been prepared for the relocation. Wildlife experts and trainers are conducting daily training sessions to help Rano adjust. Rano has reportedly begun eating honey from a ranger’s hand, indicating trust and progress. The transfer will first go to Islamabad, then onwards to a sanctuary in Gilgit-Baltistan, according to court orders.

Shah also noted that Pakistan is party to international conventions including the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), and stressed that “wildlife protection and ethical management of animals must be ensured in all zoos and wildlife habitats across Sindh in accordance with both local and international standards.”

KARACHI: The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) has named Ayesha Raza Farooq, the prime minister’s focal person on polio, as the country’s first “Gender Champion” for promoting gender equality and women empowerment in public health, Pakistan’s national polio program said on Wednesday. 

The GPEI’s Gender Equality Strategy, launched in 2019, aims to address gender-related barriers to immunization, ensure women’s representation at all levels and advance gender equality as a cornerstone of health equity.

Farooq has led efforts to eradicate poliovirus in Pakistan, with the country reporting 30 cases of the disease this year, mostly from its northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province. Pakistan is one of the only two nations where the disease remains endemic. 

“For me, the fight against polio is not only about protecting children’s health, it’s about equity, opportunity and empowerment,” Farooq was quoted as saying by the national polio program in a statement. 

“Every day, I see how women are the true drivers of this mission: leading vaccination teams, breaking barriers in their communities and carrying the hope of a healthier future,” she added. 

The statement said Farooq’s appointment highlighted her efforts to integrate women into Pakistan’s polio eradication program, enhancing their leadership roles and visibility among the 400,000 frontline health workers. It said 60 percent of these health workers are women.

“Ms. Farooq’s role as Pakistan’s first Gender Champion reflects both the nation’s leadership in the global fight to eradicate polio and its deep commitment to a more equitable and inclusive future for every child,” the polio program said. 

Polio is a highly infectious and incurable disease that can cause lifelong paralysis. Pakistan has made remarkable progress since the 1990s, when annual polio cases exceeded 20,000, bringing them down to just eight by 2018. 

However, the country recorded an alarming 74 cases in 2024, a sharp increase from six in 2023 and only one in 2021.

Pakistan’s efforts to eliminate poliovirus have been hampered by parental refusals, widespread misinformation and repeated attacks on anti-polio workers by militant groups. 

In remote and volatile areas, vaccination teams often operate under police protection, though security personnel themselves have also been targeted and killed in attacks.