Freedom at last: 35-year-old elephant Kaavan to leave for Cambodia shortly

ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on environment Malik Amin Aslam said Monday that Kaavan elephant of Marghazar Zoo is being sent to Cambodia after 35 years in Pakistan, ARY News reported.

Enviroment SAPM Aslam said Kaavan will be sent to elephants’ permanent habitat in Cambodia by Nov 29 where he will now lead his life cheerfully.

Kaavan was brought in Pakistan back in 1985 as a gift from Sri Lanka when he was one-year-old, whose inappropriate living conditions in Marghazar Zoo had irked onlookers as he remained chained and that, too, in a tiny enclosure.

Authorities, in order to resolve the controversy that had risen and the court instructions that were passed to that effect, issued visas to three international wildlife experts for health examination of Islamabad zoo’s lone elephant ‘Kaavan’ before taking the decision of its expected relocation to Cambodia.

READ: Visas issued to int’l wildlife experts for health examination of ‘Kaavan’

Pakistan’s embassy in Thailand issued visas to three international wildlife experts for detailed check-up of ‘Kaavan’, the lone elephant at Islamabad’s Zoo.

Back in May this year, the Islamabad High Court decreed relocation of Kaavan since he was treated cruelly by the authorities concerned.