Founder of the Ayesha Chundrigar Foundation (ACF), Ayesha Chundrigar announced the next step of her ‘Wildlife Rescue’ initiative to protect wildlife in Pakistan from brutal living conditions. This will be the expansion of her initial monkey rescue project where government officials handed over 4 imprisoned monkeys to ACF. Chundrigar wanted to convey her plans moving forward with the project and is taking steps towards giving the best possible life to the traumatized primates. The foundation is bringing these efforts to life by building an enclosure at their current sanctuary in Karachi.
The initiative was originally developed after the Head of Sindh Wildlife, Jawad Mahar and DC South, Irshad Sodhar, and Assistant Commissioner Saddar, Sherina Asad rescued 4 monkeys from living in horrific conditions in a pet market. The monkeys were then handed over to ACF to rehabilitate them and tend to their trauma. One of the monkeys was less than a month old, shivering, terrified in a little cage, hungry, and crying. One of the older monkeys was reported to be partially blind and had spent his whole life beaten, in a cage while being in a state of chronic fear as he couldn’t see what was happening around him.
Since the public was informed of this news, ACF reported that several calls had been made to the foundation about monkeys in need of rescue. Taking these calls into account, Chundrigar hopes to create a safe space for these primates so they no longer have to suffer imprisonment and abuse. Considering that there are no naturally habitable spaces for monkeys in Karachi, she plans on developing a sanctuary which will be built specifically for them. Ayesha Chundrigar is already in touch with Sindh Head of Wildlife, who is working toward making these ideas come to life.
“We need to urgently build an enclosure for rescued monkeys that have been beaten, starved, and been prisoners in tiny bird cages for their whole lives. Finally, they are getting a chance to be rescued and freed. But we cannot do this alone. There are too many monkeys locked up, suffering right now but we have no space to keep them. We need to build spacious, comfortable enclosures ASAP so we don’t have to turn any monkey away whilst we figure out the long-term solution of creating a sanctuary for them”, stated Ayesha Chundrigar, founder and CEO of ACF Animal Rescue
ACF is the first and largest animal rescue in Pakistan. Before the foundation’s initiatives, there was no concept of real sanctuaries in Pakistan that kept the best intentions in mind for animals. Now, Ayesha Chundrigar hopes to become the trailblazer who introduces wildlife sanctuaries in Pakistan and move towards a kinder, more civilized society. The ‘Wildlife Rescue’ initiative will not only improve and impact animal existence/their quality of life but will also bring kindness, care, and empathy to Pakistani society in general.
