Freedom: Kaavan unchained

ISLAMABAD:

Weeks of struggle finally paid off as Kavaan’s plight came to an end on Friday when shackles of the 31-year-old Asian elephant were removed to allow him to freely roam around his enclosure at Islamabad Zoo.

The development came after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif intervened following an international hue and cry over the cruel practice of chaining the elephant by the zoo management during successive years.

Read: The last elephant: Kaavan’s sad existence draws global outcry

MNA Marriyum Aurangzeb paid a visit to the zoo on the premier’s direction. “I have directed a complete capacity audit of the zoo staffers including elephant’s handler and zoo management,” Aurangzeb told The Express Tribune following her visit.

Aurangzeb said she and other MPs from Islamabad, being members of the Islamabad Wildlife Management Board, would themselves oversee the process of holding the capacity audit.

The zoo management has also been directed to construct a proper indoor facility within a week at Kaavan’s enclosure where he would be kept during feeding, vaccination, and cleaning time.

Read: Kaavan still in chains

Aurangzeb said the prime minister had also directed the foreign ministry to contact Sri Lankan authorities in a bid to import a female elephant. Kaavan’s companion Saheli died in 2012.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 19^th, 2015.