India activists urge against sending animals to Kabul zoo

Indian animal rights activists Saturday urged the government not to send animals to Kabul's war-damaged zoo, after Afghan officials came scouting for an elephant and leopards.

The Afghan capital's zoo suffered severe damage during the Taliban's 1996-2001 regime and the authorities are now working to restock with animals donated from India.

But the Indian arm of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) urged Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh not to allow animals to be sent to Afghanistan.

"The sad state of the Kabul zoo is well known," PETA spokeswoman Poorva Joshipura said.

"Sending wild animals to miserable zoos abroad contradicts our pledge to protect the welfare of our wildlife."

Kabul's zoo director Aziz Gul Saqeb told AFP on Thursday that Afghanistan wanted an elephant, a leopard and a snow leopard from India and said the Indian authorities had agreed to help with the elephant's upkeep.

But Saqeb said his officials faced the prospect of a difficult journey with the animals through troubled Pakistan to landlocked Afghanistan.

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