KARACHI: Madhubala — an 18-year-old elephant now in solitary confinement at the zoo after losing her partner Noor Jehan in one of the most painful ways last month — suffers from a potentially fatal infection, sources told Republic policy on Sunday.
The infection, they said, was detected in blood samples analysed by a team of experts at the University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (UVAS), Lahore.
Both Noor Jehan and Madhubala, along with a pair of elephants currently housed at the Safari Park, were brought together to Karachi 14 years ago from Tanzania, where they were caught and separated from their mother at a very young age.
“She seemed to have caught the infection from Noor Jehan whose postmortem analysis indicated that she had the same disease, apart from other serious health complications,” disclosed a zoo official, requesting anonymity.
He added that it was the first time in decades that detailed blood analysis of any animal was carried out at the zoo.
“Madhubala has recently received some treatment as well for the illness that has reached an advanced stage in Noor Jehan, who underwent a major surgery for a chronic tusk infection last year and, months later, for another illness that left her partially paralysed. Four Paws, an international animal welfare group, provided both treatments.”
