Thirty-six-year-old Asian elephant Kaavan, who spent a large part of his life in loneliness and captivity has found a new ray of hope and home in Cambodia. Thanks to Cher, her animal welfare organisation helped Kaavan–the world’s loneliest elephant–break free from the shackles of isolation. By Kumar Shree
Kaavan, who came to Pakistan in 1985 as a goodwill gift from Sri Lanka, has been living in Islamabad’s Marghazar Zoo ever since. Five years later, the Marghazar Zoo brought in a female elephant named Saheli from Bangladesh. The two found solace in each other and lead a happy life until 2012 when Saheli succumbed to the perils of old age. Kaavan has been leading a lonely life ever since.
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In 2016, Cher came to know about the heart-wrenching story of Kaavan and ever since then she has been instrumental in driving a massive social media campaign to relocate him. She along with Free The Wild have been advocating for his relocation for quite some time now. They had also raised concerns about the zoo’s deteriorated state that was causing even more dismay to the elephant’s well-being. Earlier this year, Islamabad’s High Court released an order to close the zoo over its depreciated condition and allowed animal welfare organisation Four Paws to relocate Kaavan.
As reported by The Hollywood Reporter, Cher said, “I found out about Kaavan from the people on my Twitter… They would not stop saying ‘Cher, you have to do something, you have to fix this, you have to save him.’ I thought about how I could fix this? How can I save an elephant who’s been shackled to a shed for 17 years and who is a thousand miles away? This is Free the Wild’s first big rescue, and I am so proud. We are thrilled to partner with the Smithsonian Channel who will be helping to bring our story to the world.”
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Kaavan has now reached the Cambodia Wildlife Sanctuary where he was welcomed with a cake that read, “Welcome Kaavan.” The sanctuary has been preparing for weeks to receiving Kaavan and is all set to make him feel at home. Not just that, Kaavan now has a lot of open space to play around and mingle with fellow friendly neighbour elephants to enjoy his new life.
You can follow Kaavan’s story on Smithsonian Channel that will feature a documentary called Cher’s Elephant Airlift.
Related: Kerala To Soon Have The World’s Largest Elephant Care-And-Cure Facility Centre
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