PAKISTAN: Elephants bring smiles to children

Record ID: 185134

  • Title: PAKISTAN: Elephants bring smiles to children
  • Date: 5th July 2009
  • Summary: KARACHI, PAKISTAN (RECENT) (REUTERS) PEOPLE WATCHING YOUNG ELEPHANTS IN BARNS
  • Embargoed: 20th July 2009 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Pakistan
  • Country: Pakistan
  • Topics: Environment / Natural World,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVA2E3IP0PYHDLNR98GX5YIOE7V4
  • Story Text: After months of violence, four young elephants give Pakistani children a reason to smile.
    Four newly arrived young elephants from the African country of Tanzania are attracting crowds of Pakistani children at an amusement park in the city of Karachi.
    Names for the elephants, aged between two to four years, will be chosen through a contest in which children suggested names.
    The young elephants are being housed in temporary sheds in "Safari Park", a major recreation and amusement park in the country's largest city, while they undergo a quarantine period.
    Two handlers who arrived with the elephants from Tanzania gave permission for the young animals to be visited by the public at the quarantine station.
    "We have taken them out (from cages) according to (veterinary) doctors' advice. They have had mud-bath, and today they have been given a coconut oil bath. They are very comfortable and happy," said Rehana Saif, Executive District Officer for Community Development Department.
    Despite millions of Pakistanis being affected by ongoing violence as the government fights militancy in the country, a crowd of children and their parents were all smiles as they visited the animals.
    "We are enjoying very much as we can watch them intimately. Buses are stopping here (in Safari area) and people from different age groups can watch them. They are a new thing though they are few in number. No other parks but the Safari Park have them," said 15-year-old Yumna.
    "I am enjoying it as I have come here for amusement with my mum and Papa," added 5-year-old Layeba.
    Two of the elephants will eventually be moved to Karachi Zoo which has been without an elephant since their star attraction, Anarkali, died in 2006.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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