At Karachi Zoo, Jude Allen sang, You Are My Sunshine, to an elephant he could not save.
uncertain
he → sing → elephant
Noor Jehan, the 17-year-old African elephant, was suffering.
asserted
Jehan → suffer → ?
Allen recalls massaging her legs, nursing her bedsores and spending her final days beside her.
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Allen → recall → her
She died on April 22, 2023, surrounded by a few activists.
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She → die → activists
Allen, 45, had held various corporate jobs while volunteering as an animal caregiver since an early age.
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Allen → hold → age
But Noor Jehan changed something in him, he said.
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he → change → him
“The day this wild African elephant rested her painful forehead on mine, and I hugged her for the first time – it all made sense,” he tells Al Jazeera.
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he → rest → Jazeera
“I quit my job without a plan B.”
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I → quit → B.
Now three years later, Allen has turned the grief of Noor Jehan’s loss into care for one of her sisters, Madhubala, who also faces major health challenges.
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who → turn → challenges
He is part of a growing campaign of Pakistani and international activists and doctors trying to save Madhubala, a victim, her carers say, not just of medical conditions, but also of a system that is simply unable to give animals in captivity the attention and facilities they need.
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they → grow → attention
The elephant sisters
In 2009, four elephant calves captured in Tanzania were brought to Pakistan, allegedly through an animal trader.
uncertain
calves → capture → trader
Two of them, Noor Jehan and Madhubala, were kept at the Karachi Zoo, while their sisters Sonia and Malika were taken to Safari Park, a larger facility also in Pakistan’s largest city that has both a zoo and other viewing spaces for visitors to watch animals up close.
Then, in 2020, Pakistan was gripped by the story of Kaavan, an Asian elephant that had spent 35 years in the capital city of Islamabad, eight of them alone after his companion Saheli died.
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companion → keep → them
Four Paws, an international animal welfare organisation, helped move Kaavan to an animal sanctuary in Cambodia, where he now lives with other elephants.
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he → move → elephants
That episode also shone a light on the Karachi sisters.
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episode → shine → sisters
At the time, Allen was helping a friend with another animal shelter, and came to know Four Paws was in town.
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Paws → help → town
He reached out to them, and they led him to Noor Jehan and Madhubala.
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they → reach → Jehan
She suffered from malnutrition and stress, too.
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She → suffer → malnutrition
Allen and the other activists couldn’t save Noor Jehan, but the campaign had turned into a wider cry, demanding care and justice for captive animals in the urban jungle of Karachi, the coastal home to 20 million people.
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campaign → save → people
One animal in particular became the focus of attention.
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animal → become → attention
Named after an iconic Indian film actress from the mid-20th century, Madhubala was now the only African elephant at the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation-run zoo.
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Madhubala → name → zoo
She was alone, banging her head against the gate of her enclosure, Allen recalls.
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Allen → bang → enclosure
“She didn’t have a friend.”
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She → have → friend
Allen says she needed company – she wanted a friend.
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she → say → friend
Tragic reunion, and a slow recovery
Allen, along with Four Paws, helped prepare her for a move to Safari Park, so she could join her sister elephants, Sonia and Malika.
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she → prepare → elephants
Four Paws assessed the elephants and found that they needed better diets, enrichment and medical treatment.
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they → assess → diets
The organisation recommended reuniting them.
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organisation → recommend → them
The reunion came in November 2024.
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reunion → come → November
Four Paws documented the meeting between the siblings at Safari Park.
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Paws → document → Park
Sonia approached Madhubala first.
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Sonia → approach → Madhubala
Malika followed.
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Malika → follow → ?
The three touched one another with their trunks and drank together.
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three → touch → trunks
But days later, on December 8, Sonia died, aged about 19, after collapsing in her enclosure.
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Sonia → die → enclosure
The park’s director initially described an apparent heart failure.
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director → describe → failure
Subsequent findings, reported by Four Paws, identified a severe bacterial infection associated with an advanced abscess on her foot.
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findings → report → foot
Amir Khalil, a Four Paws wildlife vet involved in the elephants’ care, told The Associated Press at the time that “such infections don’t spread in one day”.
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infections → involve → day
Four Paws linked her death to prolonged unsuitable living conditions and malnutrition.
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Paws → link → conditions
Meanwhile, Madhubala and Malika were both diagnosed with tuberculosis, although recent examinations reported by her veterinarian have indicated that Madhubala is no longer testing positive.
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Madhubala → diagnose → veterinarian
Now Madhubala, 22, is recovering after losing more than 200kg (440 pounds) and becoming too weak to get up safely after lying down.
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Madhubala → recover → kg
Khalil, who has also rescued wild animals from multiple conflict zones, is one of the carers who has taken charge of Madhubala’s recovery.
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who → rescue → recovery
He told Al Jazeera that Madhubala had recovered 85 percent of her ability to walk, and was a good patient: “She really wants to follow the standard operation procedure and to adhere to the programme that I put in,” he says.
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he → tell → that
…and 52 more, not listed.
The Aporia
