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The situation, which generated international protests in favor of the animal, saw the American singer and actress Cher one of the public figures who put the most pressure on the Pakistani authorities and public opinion.
Cher was on the runway at Siem Reap airport in Cambodia following the arrival of the 35-year-old male elephant, who made the journey on a special cargo plane, according to France Press (AFP).
Wearing a black mask, the Oscar-winning singer and actress eagerly greeted the plane after it landed. “I am very proud that he is here,” Cher told AFP, after greeting Kaavan with an opening at the base of the garage.
“He will be very happy here,” Cher said, adding that she hoped the elephant’s sad and lonely life was over.
#FreeKaavan : The formula has arrived! ✈️
Last night the loneliest elephant in the world was loaded onto a plane in Islamabad. Along with the on-site team, Dr. Frank Goeritz and Dr. Amir Khalil were by his side throughout the trip. pic.twitter.com/b1745OQFsi– FOUR LEGS (@fourpawsint) November 30, 2020
The Cambodian sanctuary that now houses Kaavan is home to more than 80 elephants and is equipped for the purpose.
The singer financed part of the cost of Kaavan’s trip and visited Pakistan to verify the elephant’s departure. On the occasion, he met with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan and other government officials.
Kaavan the lonely
The elephant has lived in precarious conditions for more than three decades in a small enclosure at the Islamabad zoo.
His partner, Saheli, died in 2012, presumably due to neglect and poor treatment by zoo officials. Kaavan arrived in Islamabad from Sri Lanka in 1985, as a gift from that country to Pakistan, more precisely to the former dictator, General Zia ul-Haq.
In 2002, zookeepers said Kaavan had been temporarily chained up due to increasingly violent behavior. He was released in the same year, but zoo officials apparently resumed the practice.
Animal rights activists denounced the situation and said Pakistan’s Animal Cruelty Prevention Act, passed in 1890, is out of date.
Although cruelty to animals was established as a punishable offense in the country earlier this year, rescuers say the fines alone do not prevent abuse.
The new home: a wildlife sanctuary
As soon as Kaavan landed in Siem Reap, the local monks who were waiting for him offered him fruit, sang prayers, and sprinkled holy water on his box to bless him.
On the last leg of the journey, he was transported by truck for three hours to his new home, a wildlife sanctuary in Oddar Meanchey province that is already home to three female elephants.
Cher always followed the vehicle, in her vehicle, as Kaavan crossed the farmland and passed the famous temple of Angkor Wat.
“Cambodia is delighted to welcome Kaavan. He will no longer be the ‘loneliest elephant in the world’,” said Local Deputy Environment Minister Neth Pheaktra.
“We hope to cross Kaavan with other local elephants in an attempt to preserve the genetic trait,” the minister told AFP.
After being dumped from his giant travel box, Kaavan made the rounds of his new home, perhaps happy to stretch his legs after his long journey.
Kaavan’s trip is the culmination of years of campaigning by animal rights groups claiming that the elephant’s behavior in captivity has proven “a type of mental illness” likely due to the dire conditions at the Islamabad Zoo. .
In May, a Pakistani judge ordered all animals at the zoo to be removed.
Hearing about Kaavan’s freedom, Cher tweeted that the decision marked “one of the best times” of her life.
Kaavan’s journey to freedom from captivity in Islamabad in Cambodia will be a 2021 @SmithsonianChan documentary ❤️ Help build Kaavan’s forever home https://t.co/dzdl4Ew4gn @ftwglobal #KavansJourney pic.twitter.com/iTxdzfndNB
– Search for) November 27, 2020
A team of veterinarians and specialists from Four Paws, an Austrian-based animal welfare organization, spent months working with Kaavan to prepare him for the trip, a complicated process due to its size and the amount of food needed to travel. The elephant also had to be taught to enter the massive metal box that had been placed on a cargo plane for the seven-hour flight.
According to The Guardian, Four Paws, along with Islamabad authorities, also safely removed three wolves and some monkeys from the zoo. Only two Himalayan brown bears remain, a deer and a monkey.
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