‘World’s loneliest elephant’ Kaavan starts trip to Cambodia

‘World’s loneliest elephant’ Kaavan starts trip to Cambodia

Islamabad, November 29

Kaavan, dubbed the “world’s loneliest elephant” after languishing alone for years in a Pakistani zoo, was readied Sunday for his flight to a sanctuary in Cambodia and the much-needed firm of different elephants.

The mammoth process of getting him into an elephant-sized steel field for transport took a number of hours, and was maybe probably the most essential step in rescuing him from the dire circumstances he’s lived in for 35 years.

Had Kaavan been spooked and refused to enter the cage or bolted, his departure might have been delayed for months whereas the rescue staff sought to revive calm and belief earlier than attempting once more, defined Martin Bauer, a spokesman for Four Paws International. The world animal welfare group has led the cost to avoid wasting Kaavan since 2016.

Iconic American singer and actress Cher additionally arrived in Islamabad final week, the end result of her longstanding efforts to lift consciousness about rescuing Kaavan from the zoo. Conditions there have been so dangerous {that a} courtroom within the Pakistani capital ordered the zoo closed in August.

Dr Amir Khalil, a veterinarian with Four Paws who’s been treating Kaavan’s many wounds and illnesses over the previous three months, stated he was hopeful concerning the subsequent chapter of the elephant’s life.

“In the sanctuary in Cambodia…waiting for him is three ladies, three Asian female elephants,” he stated. “Now Kaavan might have a new partner, and share a new life with a partner,” Dr Khalil added.

Khalil described how on Sunday he slowly and gently cajoled Kaavan to stroll backwards right into a metal crate, as almost a dozen males fastidiously guided him inside utilizing chains round his tree-trunk sized legs.

Kaavan is about to depart aboard a Russian cargo airplane for the 25,000-acre sanctuary early Monday morning.

The plight of the male Asian elephant, who’s been alone because the loss of life of his companion Saheli in 2012, has captured worldwide consideration.

Cher’s animal welfare group Free the Wild has labored with Four Paws and the American syndicated columnist and philanthropist, Eric Margolis, to relocate Kaavan — a mission that’s value about $4,00,000. She’s additionally making a documentary movie concerning the course of.

Kaavan was identified earlier this 12 months as being dangerously obese, owing to his unsuitable weight-reduction plan of round 250 kilograms (550 kilos) of sugar cane every day.

With Khalil’s assist, Kaavan misplaced 1,000 kilos (450 kilograms) over the previous three months, and was all the way down to a slimmer, extra agile 9,000 kilos (over 4,000 kilograms) when he left the zoo Sunday.

Kaavan’s wounds are emotional in addition to bodily. He would spend his days throwing his head back and forth, a stereotypical signal of boredom and distress in an elephant, Bauer stated, and one thing the Four Paws staff has been working to deal with.

The lack of his mate Saheli in 2012 took a toll on Kaavan’s psychological well being. Elephants are social animals that thrive on the corporate of different elephants, Bauer defined. For Kaavan, the final eight years have been akin to dwelling in quarantine — one thing the world has come to know all too nicely amid the coronavirus pandemic, he stated.

“I always compare it to us humans now during the pandemic. We are locked away for 14 days isolated and we all know how that feels,” Bauer stated.

Saheli developed a small an infection in her foot that went unattended and have become gangrenous. When she died, her lifeless physique lay for a number of days beside the heartsick Kaavan till zookeepers ultimately eliminated her.

“For much of his time in Pakistan, Kaavan was kept chained in a small enclosure surrounded by a moat of water. The floor irritated his feet and toenails, which are badly damaged and will require years of treatment in Cambodia,” stated Bauer. He arrived in Pakistan as a present from Sri Lanka when he was solely a 12 months outdated.

Four Paws first got here to judge Kaavan’s scenario in 2016, stated Khalil, the veterinarian. The staff returned in August following the zoo’s court-ordered closure, and the choice was made to resettle him.

The zoo as soon as housed 500 animals, however by August barely 30 have been nonetheless alive, and Kaavan’s situation had deteriorated.

“They always say it takes a village, but it took a whole country to get Kaavan moved to Cambodia,” stated Bauer, who applauded Pakistan’s Wildlife Foundation, which first sounded the alarm about Kaavan.

While Kaavan is probably the most celebrated rescue on the zoo, Bauer stated Four Paws has already relocated about 30 animals from there.

All that stay are a deer, a monkey and two retired dancing bears — Suzie and Bubaloo — whose enamel had all been eliminated by their earlier homeowners to cease them from biting clients and the homeowners. The bears shall be relocated to Jordan in December with the help of the Princess Alia Foundation, headed by the eldest daughter of the Jordan’s late King Hussein.

“Elephants are ambassadors from the jungle, and they deserve to live like ambassadors,” Khalil stated. AP

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