Saving Baboo the baby tiger: Inside Pakistan’s zoo-turned-rescue centre

In Pictures

Islamabad, Pakistan – From the outside, one might assume that the former premises of Marghazar Zoo are now deserted. A dilapidated ticket office and overgrown foliage suggest an absence of visitors. But listen closely, and you might hear the chatter of monkeys, the growl of bears, and even the roar of a tiger.

The Islamabad High Court ordered Marghazar Zoo to be closed in 2020, following local and global protest against its treatment of animals. After relocating the animals, the High Court in Islamabad ordered the zoo’s premises to be entrusted to the Islamabad Wildlife Management Board (IWMB), a government body in charge of preserving the wildlife of Islamabad and the neighbouring Margalla Hills National Park.

Pakistan is a richly biodiverse country, home to several endangered species threatened by illegal hunting, poaching and habitat loss. Facing daily reports of injured and trafficked wildlife, the IWMB gradually began to use the old zoo’s premises as a rehabilitation centre for rescued animals, in collaboration with local animal rights activists and the conservation non-profit, Second Chance Wildlife.

Since 2020, the Margalla Wildlife Rescue Centre has rescued more than 380 animals, including rhesus monkeys, Asian black bears, Indian pangolins, several bird species and a three-month-old Bengal tiger. As well as receiving reports about injured animals, the centre leads raids to rescue animals when they hear of criminal activity.

Some of these animals were rescued from poachers. Others, like the bears, had been used for entertainment, forced to “dance” or fight for entertainment.

Baboo, the young tiger, was in critical condition when he was rescued. “When we found him, he was so weak he couldn’t walk,”