Tribune Fact Check: Kaavan poses with models in Cambodia?

Claim is false as viral image is from 2013 with the elephant in question not Kavaan

A viral image purportedly shows Kavaan, the elephant recently freed from Pakistan, posing with female models in his sanctuary in Cambodia.

The Express Tribune found the claim to be false as the image is from 2013.

Journalist and anchor Amir Mateen posted the image with the caption,"Kaavan in Cambodia".

Kaavan in Cambodia??? pic.twitter.com/0K5gfLO6fc

— Amir Mateen (@AmirMateen2) December 5, 2020

A google image reverse search found that the image was first posted back in 2013 in mandarin on Stweetly.com.

 

Anika Saleem, who is the trustee at Non-profit organisation Free the Wild, as well as, cofounder of the #TeamKaavan community on Facebook also refuted the claim.

This is not Kaavan , he’s in ethical sanctuary with no human contact for entertainment he will never be exploited Kaavan is free @ftwglobal @cher @GinaKrugco @cowne_mark @UmerInamPk @Umm_e_Kulsoom pic.twitter.com/hKEeY4YKQN

— Anika 🇨🇦 🇵🇰 (@anikasleem) December 5, 2020

"He is in a ethical sanctuary with no human contact and away from any sort of animal exploitation," she wrote.

Kaavan, who was dubbed as the world's loneliest elephant and was moved from the Islamabad Zoo to a sanctuary in Cambodia after years of campaigning for his transfer by American singer Cher.