or Rexy, the lioness at Lohi Bher Wildlife Park, protecting her three 10-month-old cubs, whose lower body is paralysed, is her primary task.

She roared whenever trespassers came close to her enclosure wanting to see the cubs through the grills.

Three cubs mostly stayed inside the shelter while their father, Shero, spent most of his day sunbathing, except for an occasional growl to warn visitors.

In total, a pair of lions with three female cubs are housed in the wildlife park, but the cubs are suffering from a disease which has paralysed their lower body, making it difficult for them to walk.

`The lioness and her three cubs arrived from Lahore in April 2024.

At the time, the cubs were healthy but later faced problems moving. It`s called developmental abnormality, and it is a genetic disease due to breeding between the lion and lioness of the same stock,` said Dr Zeeshan Ahmed, veterinary doctor of Lohi Bher Wildlife Park.

He said that during pregnancy, the lower body and spinal cord of the cubs developed a fault, which affected their movement as the cubs grew. He said the authorities were getting some medicine f om Australia to treat the cubs, adding that a letter was sent to the Punjab government, asking it to form a medical board to examine the cubs for their treatment. In the meantime, the wildlife park administration was trying its best, he added.

`In bad shape` However, the conditions in the wildlife park are in contrast to his remarks. The administration is struggling to save the park`s land from encroachment by the adjoining housing societies. The park spread over 460 acres on the Islamabad Expressway is in bad shape roads are damaged, cages are empty, and there is no proper lighting. Likewise, the boundary wall is damaged.

It was established in 1992 to provide recreational facilities, but the government did not spend money to maintain the park and it eventually lost its charm. The road leading to the park is unfit even for a motorcycle and at the entrance, there are a few animal cages in which deer and monkeys are kept.

It is divided into two portions. One side can be approached via the Islamabad Expressway and the portion can be accessed from Pakistan Town and Korang Town.

The bridge that used to connect these two portions has been broken for the last five years.

The main attraction of the park usedto be the `Lion Safari` a compartment atop a hill. It is not worth visiting anymore. The lions have been shifted to the bear cages, and the lone bear has been transferred to the Murree zoo. This safari now has two Nilgai (blue bulls). In total, the wildlife park has only 34 animals, including five lions, two blue bulls, three blackbucks, seven spotted deer, four hog deer, five mouflon sheep, and eight monkeys. Some peacocks and some other birds are part of the dilapidated park.

There is a dried lake in the park. The administration said that there was no water for the park and that the water in the adjoining Korang River was not contaminated, emitting a foul smell due to sewage drained by residents in Islamabad and adjoining housing societies.

Mushtaq Ahmed, a visitor, said that he had made complaints to the prime minister`s complaint cell many times over the past four years, but no action had been taken. He said that he brought his family to the park, but it was shocking to witness the condition of the park. `There are rumours that an upscale housing society wanted to construct a road through the Lohi Bher Park to connect the housing society to the Islamabad Expressway, he feared.

When contacted, Deputy Director Ahsan Ahmed Raja said that there was no shortage of funds for the development of the park, but due to litigation, the development work had been stopped in the past. However, he said that there was a shortage of staff in the department but he failed to answer the question about the condition of animals kept in the park and other amenities.

During a visit to the wildlife park on Saturday, Deputy Commissioner Dr Hassan Waqar Cheema sought a report from Wildlife Deputy Director Ahsan Ahmed Raja on the poor conditions in the park and the treatment of the cubs. Talking to Dawn, DC Cheema said that the administration was planning to develop the park on a `public-private partnership` basis and the wildlife department would prepare a summary in this regard by the next month.

He further asked the city assistant commissioner to remove encroachments along the park to protect its 460 acres of land and depute revenue officials (patwari) of the area for the land demarcation. He said that the government was interested in improving the park to provide recreational facilities to the residents of the twin cities.