LAHORE:
The story of Kaavan is without a doubt an inspirational one. It not only highlights the fact that psychological and mental illness is rampant among animals but it also displays the power of social media.
Kaavan is a male Asian elephant that was gifted by the government of Sri Lanka to Pakistan in 1985. The elephant was kept in the Islamabad zoo where he remained the only Asian elephant living in the country. Even though another elephant, Saheli, was brought in from Bangladesh in 1990 as a partner, the two could only remain together till when Saheli passed away in 2012. It is because of this traumatic history that Kaavan was famously known as the ‘world’s loneliest elephant’.
In 2015, a local student from Islamabad started a petition to free Kaavan. The initiative soon gained international attention after a video of the deplorable condition she was living in went viral; it showed that the elephant was locked up in a small enclosure in the scorching heat without adequate food or water. The incident somehow also caught the attention of popular American pop singer Cher, who was able to pioneer a campaign called #SaveKavaan on social media. Finally, after years of public outcry and campaigning, the case was taken up in May 2020 by the Islamabad High Court which eventually ordered Kaavan to be released and relocated to a suitable sanctuary. With the help of multiple stakeholders, the decision was made to relocate Kaavan to Cambodia. After Kaavan landed there, monks offered him fruit, chanted prayers and sprinkled holy water on his crate to bless him. It seems to be a new and hopefully happy beginning for him.
Meanwhile, much progress is yet to be made in Pakistan when it comes to implementing animal rights. However, Kaavan’s freedom was a phenomenon that has created more awareness as well as hope for endangered animals in the country.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 4th, 2021.
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