Animal protection organization “For Paws” announced yesterday that the elephant Kavan, the only elephant whose poor living conditions in Pakistan caused a global protest, will move to a Cambodian shelter next November.
Four Paws, in charge of the transportation, said that travel arrangements are underway that include preparing a suitable plane, and a transport box that weighs more than five tons and reaches a height of three meters is also being built. Veterinarians from the Vienna-based organization have assessed the physical and psychological health of Kavan, to see if he was fit for air travel and stable enough for a new life with other elephants.
Kavan has been living in poor conditions, often in chains, in a small barn at the Marghazar Zoo in Islamabad, for more than three decades. The Asian elephant was one year old when it arrived from Sri Lanka in 1985. His companion Sahili died in 2012.
The elephant’s plight has garnered international attention, especially from the American singer and animal rights activist (Cher). An online petition for the elephant’s release gathered more than 200,000 signatures in 2016. The Cambodian reserve was chosen because it already has more than 80 elephants, experts and other related facilities.
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