In a ceremony held at the Lahore Zoo, Punjab University (PU) Department of Zoology adopted two tigers, Sam and Mohni, for a year on Tuesday.
PU Vice Chancellor Dr Mujahid Kamran was the chief guest while PU Registrar Prof Dr. Muhammad Akhter, PUCAD Principal Prof Dr. Rahat Naveed Masood, Director External Linkages Maria Maldonodo, RO-1 Javed Sami, Director General Wildlife and Parks Dr. Zafar Nasrullah and Director Lahore Zoo Dr. Zahid Iqbal Bhatti were present on the occasion. The PU VC said that adopting animals promoted human sentiments among the people; looking after animals could help eliminate torture from the society. He said that the university would try to create an endowment fund for saving tigers. He said that if the expected HEC grant continued, the varsity would prolong this project. PU Registrar Dr. Muhammad Akhter said that it would provide an opportunity to Zoology students to do research on animals. He said that the varsity would spend Rs 1.214 million as annual expenditures on these tigers. Wildlife and Parks DG Dr. Zafar said this joint venture would help these animals. He said common people would also benefit from these researches, as it would make animals live a better life and continue giving a chance to the people for enjoying nature. Lahore Zoo Director Dr. Zahid Iqbal Bhatti thanked the PU and said that the partnership would help get the scientific data. Later, PU VC along with faculty members gave away the cheque of Rs 1.214 million to the Lahore Zoo.
