The story of Kaavan, the world’s loneliest elephant, received a happy ending. After spending eight years in a zoo in Islamabad without company of his kind, Kaavan was recently transferred to a sanctuary in Cambodia where he has already started making friends.
Kaavan was in captivity for three decades but during most of his life in the Islamabad zoo, he had his partner Saheli to lean on. Unfortunately, Saheli died in 2012 and Kaavan has been all alone since then.
Not only Kaavan had to spend the previous eight years in solitude, but he was also living in really bad conditions. He was malnourished, nobody took care of his hygiene, and the zoo staff often chained him.
Earlier this year, a photo of Kaavan’s poor living conditions started circling around the internet and it attracted the attention of animal rights activists and Cher.
Cher joined the calls for Kaavan’s freedom and kicked off a campaign that fortunately had a happy ending. Animal welfare organization Four Paws got involved and with joined efforts they freed this gentle giant and found him a new home.
According to Four Paws, Kaavan was transported to Cambodia where he has started to get accustomed to his new surroundings. He looks healthy, eats a lot, and most importantly, has other elephants to hang out with.
