Extinction of Himayalan Bears from Pakistan

Photo coutesy Google

 Emma, 26, was abducted soon after she was born and by the force of circumstance, never got even the ghost of a chance to be with her siblings again.

She is deaf and mute and cannot express her emotions. However, her blood-red eyes reveal everything. She does only two things, sleep and hit her head against the walls of the prison in which she has been locked for the last 25 years. Whether she is cursing her luck or cursing the brutality of humanity, nobody knows. Emma’s universe is limited to walls, a tree and men.

For 25 years, Emma, the Balochi black bear, has been the fancy of visitors at the Karachi Zoo. People visiting the zoo, especially children, gather around her prison since she is the only bear in the zoo. Wearing a muzzle, she looks at them with a mixture of amazement and hate.

Emma is one of the sub-species of the Asiatic or Himalayan black bears. She is medium-sized, and has ears that are proportionately larger than the rest of her head. Her kind have a distinct white patch on their chest, sometimes shaped like a V, and have white fur on their chins.

The Himalayan black bears can be divided into two categories, the south black and the north black. Those bears found in the south are smaller and have short coarse brown fur while those from the north are comparatively darker.

On average, these bears live up to 30 years and prefer to eat Olea ferruginea, Ber (Zizyphus nummularia), starchy rhizomes, dwarf palm fruits, insects and lizards. Unlike other bears however, Emma has no choice in what she gets to eat, and doesn’t seem to complain. “Whatever is provided to her, she eats,” says her keeper, Zaiwar. Her spirit has been crushed to an extent that she is even ready to eat whatever her visitors throw at her.

Emma was born in Balochistan in 1982 and not long after she came into this world, she was caught and handed over to the Wildlife Department. She was then transferred to Karachi with the sole aim of protecting and conserving her species. She has been reduced to a mere caged source of amusement for children and ‘animal lovers’.

“She gets up early in the morning and goes for a walk,” revealed Zaiwar. “She is very polite and doesn’t like to cause harm.” Zaiwar tried to console the frightened children who got scared just by looking at her. The children could not understand that being caged for so long, Emma has forgotten how to be wild.

According to Zoo officials the prime purpose of keeping Emma in the zoo was to protect her from being killed. “We want to protect her species and hope she will produce children,” he explained. The director claimed that the prime purpose of establishing the zoo was not to exhibit the animals and use them as entertainment but to save them from being killed.

Emma’s eyes look as if they are questioning the zoo authorities how she can have children in the absence of a mate. Female bears reach sexual maturity when they are three or four years old. In Pakistan, mating has been reported to occur in October and the young are born in February. Emma is 26 years old and is expected to die after four years, without sharing her life with a mate, without bearing children.

Vegetables prices show significant Increase

A significant increase was observed in prices of vegetables, while rates of most of essential kitchen items remained stable during the past week, a survey carried out by ABC on Wednesday.

Traders and wholesalers in different markets of Rawalpindi/ Islamabad told the surveyors that most vegetable supplies originate from Sindh and other parts of Punjab. However, recent floods had damaged vegetable crops and road network because of which the supplies were suspended, causing a shortage, thereby increasing vegetable prices.

According to the survey, there was a significant increase in vegetables prices this week against prices in the corresponding period last week: tomatoes were available at Rs 45 against Rs 25 per kg last week, onions were selling at Rs45 against Rs42 per kg, potatoes Rs42 against Rs40 per kg, carrots Rs 45 per kg, shimla mirch at Rs120-140 against Rs80 per kg, arvi at Rs60 okra at Rs60 against Rs50 per kg, chilies at Rs140 against Rs120 per kg and cucumbers were being sold at Rs60-70 against Rs55 per kg during the previous week.

 Visitors at the makeshift markets were made to pay much higher rates to the vendors, although the government has promised to lessen the prices.

A visit to Rana Market in Islamabad City revealed that CDA had also failed to ensure the availability of seasonal items like tomatoes, apricot, ladyfinger, bitter gourd, spinach, cabbage, cauliflower and cucumber at the bazaar on subsidized rates.

 Prices of pulses remained unchanged during the previous week as mash was available at Rs160 per kg, moong at Rs150 per kg, lobia at Rs135 per kg, masoor at Rs125 per kg, while channa was being sold at Rs145 per kg.