Kaavan
Kaavan (* 1985 ) is a male Asian elephant . Since he was born, Kaavan has spent most of his life at the Islamabad Zoo . It was a gift from the Government of Sri Lanka to the Government of Pakistan as a sign of the positive relationship between the two countries.
Since 2012 Kaavan lived alone after the death of his companion; he was considered the "loneliest elephant in the world". The keeping conditions were bad. He is said to have been chained many times, which the zoo denies. From 2015 there was a strong public movement for the release of Kaavan, which the American artist Cher joined with media coverage . At the end of November 2020, Kaavan was finally relocated to Cambodia .
biography
Kaavan was born in Sri Lanka in 1985. The government of Sri Lanka gave the newborn bull elephants to the then President of Pakistan, Mohammed Zia-ul-Haq . The animal came to the Islamabad Zoo, where it initially lived alone. In 1990 Kaavan received Saheli, a female elephant from Bangladesh, for company. Kaavan has been alone again since her death in 2012. According to the Pakistan Wildlife Foundation, the elephant was showing increasing signs of suffering. Among other things, he kept moving his head .
In 2015, a large number of people signed a petition calling for Kaavan's release. The petition was also served on the Prime Minister of Pakistan. In September 2016, an account of Kaavan's fate and his stance on chains attracted a lot of attention. From then on, the American artist Cher also stood up for Kaavan. She started the #SaveKavaan campaign on social media . A second petition was supported by over 200,000 people.
On May 21, 2020, the Pakistani Supreme Court ruled to release Kaavan. A suitable asylum outside of Pakistan should be found within 30 days.
On July 17, 2020, it was announced that Kaavan would be brought to a sanctuary in Cambodia . The relocation by plane for a mid six-digit amount took place on November 29 and 30, 2020 with the approval of the veterinarians Amir Khalil von Vier Pfoten and Frank Goeritz from the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW) and with the support of the businessman Eric Margolis and the singer Cher instead.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Happy ending for Kaavan . Tagesschau .de, November 30, 2020
- ↑ a b Kaavan has a new home . Der Spiegel , November 30, 2020
- ↑ a b An elephant flies to freedom . Süddeutsche Zeitung , November 30, 2020
- ↑ Elefant Kaavan is supposed to move to Cambodian animal sanctuary . Der Spiegel , July 18, 2020.
- ↑ President and First Lady of Pakistan say goodbye to Elefant Kaavan on November 29, 2020 in Ots.at