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The situation, which generated international protests in favor of the animal, had the American singer and actress Cher as one of the public figures who exert the most pressure on the Pakistani authorities and public opinion.
Cher was on the runway at the Siem Reap airport in Cambodia, after the arrival of the 35-year-old male elephant, who made the trip in a special cargo plane, according to the agency France Press (AFP).
Wearing a black mask, the Oscar-winning singer and actress excitedly 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 area.
“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 team on site, 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 this 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 had lived in poor conditions for more than three decades in a small enclosure at the Islamabad Zoo.
His companion, Saheli, died in 2012, reportedly due to negligence and poor treatment by zoo officials. Kaavan arrived in Islamabad from Sri Lanka in 1985, as a gift from that country to Pakistan, more specifically for the former dictator, General Zia ul-Haq.
In 2002, zookeepers said Kaavan was being temporarily chained due to increasingly violent behavior. He was released later that year, but zoo officials apparently resumed the practice.
Animal rights activists denounced the situation, saying that Pakistan’s Animal Cruelty Prevention Act, passed in 1890, is out of date.
Although cruelty to animals was instituted as a punishable offense in the country earlier this year, rescuers say fines alone do not prevent any 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, chanted prayers and sprinkled holy water on his box to bless him.
On the last leg of the trip, 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 own vehicle, as Kaavan traversed farmland and past the famous Angkor Wat temple.
“Cambodia is delighted to welcome Kaavan. It will no longer be the ‘loneliest elephant in the world’,” said local Deputy Minister of the Environment Neth Pheaktra.
“We hope to cross Kaavan with other local elephants, in an effort to conserve the genetic trait,” the minister told AFP.
After being unloaded from his giant travel box, Kaavan walked through his new home, perhaps happy to stretch his legs after his long journey.
Kaavan’s trip is the culmination of years of campaigns by animal rights groups, who claim that the elephant’s behavior in captivity demonstrated “a type of mental illness” likely due to the dire conditions at the Islamabad Zoo.
In May, a Pakistani judge ordered all animals to be removed from the zoo.
Upon learning of Kaavan’s release, Cher tweeted that the decision marked “one of the best moments” of her life.
Kaavan’s journey to freedom from captivity in Islamabad to Cambodia will be in 2021 @SmithsonianChan documentary ❤️ Help us build Kaavan’s forever home https://t.co/dzdl4Ew4gn @ftwglobal #KavansJourney pic.twitter.com/iTxdzfndNB
– Search) 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 his size and the amount of food needed along the way. The elephant also had to be taught to enter the huge metal box that was 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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