[ad_1]
From: TT
Published:
Photo: Anjum Naveed / AP / TT
Pakistan’s only elephant, Kaavan, flies to Cambodia in a specially constructed box (pictured), after years of protests by animal rights activists led by American artist Cher. The photo was taken on Friday.
A group of experts began work on Sunday to move Pakistan’s lone elephant, Kaavan, to a reserve in Cambodia, after a multi-year campaign by animal rights activists.
The campaign to move the elephant from the Islamabad Zoo has been led by American singer Cher, who has written songs about the elephant’s lonely existence and raised money to move it. The singer has spent the last few days in Islamabad, but she will meet the elephant in Cambodia.
On Sunday morning, dozens of workers and animal experts gathered at the Islamabad Zoo, run by the animal rights organization Four Paws. Using a winch and rope, the anesthetized elephant was transferred to a specially constructed box, which will be used to transport it to Siem Reap in northern Cambodia.
– It is an emotional day for everyone. We call it D-Day, says Amir Khalil, a Four Paws vet.
The box weighs more than ten tons and was moved by crane to a truck. During the day, a military convoy will escort the truck to Islamabad airport, and from there the elephant will fly with a Russian cargo plane. The journey takes about 10 hours and the elephant is expected to arrive in Cambodia early Monday morning local time.
Animal keepers bring more than 200 kilos of food, including bananas and melons, that Kaavan can eat during the trip. The trip is documented by filmmakers, who in collaboration with Cher make a documentary about the rescue operation.
Kaavan was born in 1985 in Sri Lanka and was a gift to Pakistan. Between 1990 and 2012, he lived with the female elephant Saheli at the zoo, but since she passed away, he has been the only Asian elephant in Pakistan.
Published:
