World’s loneliest elephant isn’t lonely anymore!

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World’s loneliest elephant isn’t lonely anymore! Siem Reap, Cambodia The world’s loneliest elephant, Kaavan, would finally find some friends now that he has been saved and shifted to a sanctuary in Cambodia. The pachyderm had been living in a dilapidated zoo in Islamabad, Pakistan for more than eight years, all alone. The grim conditions of the zoo and his mental status gave him the title ‘world’s loneliest elephant’. Cher to the rescue! The pop icon Cher came to his rescue after knowing about his condition. The American singer and actress campaigned for years to get Kaavan out of the Marghazar Zoo. Local Pakistani activists had put Kaavan's plight on Cher's radar with a Twitter campaign, aiming messages with the hashtag #SaveKaavan and #FreeKaavan at celebrities worldwide. With the help of the UD businessman Eric Margolis and the group Four Paws International, she helped pay for the 36-year-old Kaavan’s relocation through her charity, Free the Wild. In prison for 35 years Kaavan was just about a year old when he was gifted to Pakistan by Sri Lanka. He spent decades at the Islamabad zoo in a small enclosure with few of the amenities required for the physical or mental health of an animal of such high intelligence. He performed for visitors, reportedly prodded by handlers to collect cash. Kaavan lost his last remaining companion when another elephant Saheli died in 2012. Alone and mistreated, he became angry and malnourished, rather obese due to unhealthy diet. Call for help The zoo was in such bad condition that a Pakistani court had ordered it to be shut down, and all the animals to be relocated. That sparked a global effort to evacuate the animals, and especially Kaavan. This call for help reached the singer Cher and she came to his rescue. A new home! Kaavan's new home is the vast Kulen Promtep Wildlife Sanctuary in Cambodia. He will not only have another 600 pachyderms with him as companions but also get a lot of wide space.

The world’s loneliest elephant, Kaavan, would finally find some friends now that he has been saved and shifted to a sanctuary in Cambodia. The pachyderm had been living in a dilapidated zoo in Islamabad, Pakistan for more than eight years, all alone. The grim conditions of the zoo and his mental status gave him the title ‘world’s loneliest elephant’. 

Cher to the rescue!

The pop icon Cher came to his rescue after knowing about his condition. The American singer and actress campaigned for years to get Kaavan out of the Marghazar Zoo. Local Pakistani activists had put Kaavan’s plight on Cher’s radar with a Twitter campaign, aiming messages with the hashtag #SaveKaavan and #FreeKaavan at celebrities worldwide. With the help of the UD businessman Eric Margolis and the group Four Paws International, she helped pay for the 36-year-old Kaavan’s relocation through her charity, Free the Wild. 

In prison for 35 years

Kaavan was just about a year old when he was gifted to Pakistan by Sri Lanka. He spent decades at the Islamabad zoo in a small enclosure with few of the amenities required for the physical or mental health of an animal of such high intelligence. He performed for visitors, reportedly prodded by handlers to collect cash. Kaavan lost his last remaining companion when another elephant Saheli died in 2012. Alone and mistreated, he became angry and malnourished, rather obese due to unhealthy diet. 

Call for help

The zoo was in such bad condition that a Pakistani court had ordered it to be shut down, and all the animals to be relocated. That sparked a global effort to evacuate the animals, and especially Kaavan. This call for help reached the singer Cher and she came to his rescue.

A new home!

Kaavan’s new home is the vast Kulen Promtep Wildlife Sanctuary in Cambodia. He will not only have another 600 pachyderms with him as companions but also get a lot of wide space. 


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