Kaavan’s rehabilitation to sanctuary in doldrums

Local activists will protest at Islamabad Zoo at 4pm today

ISLAMABAD: The unending plight of Kaavan — a 31-year-old Asian elephant shackled at the Islamabad Zoo — continues to draw local and global attention.

Animal rights activists across the world are all set to hold the annual protest, dubbed the ‘Global March for Elephants and Rhinos’ on October 3 (today).

Many of them plan to highlight Kaavan’s plight, who has recently been unchained following global outcry and a subsequent intervention by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Local activists too will hold a protest at 4pm at the Islamabad Zoo, demanding for Kavaan to be released and moved to an elephant sanctuary.

A similar protest for Kaavan will also be held in front of Pakistan’s embassy in New York. “Kaavan deserves to be in a sanctuary where he can be taken good care of,” said Faryal Gauhar, a rights activist.

She said the elephant had now become a symbol against animal cruelty in Pakistan. Gauhar will host the protest in front of the zoo, aimed at raising awareness about the neglect and abuse inflicted on Kaavan and also on other animals and birds housed at that zoo.

CDA meeting on issue

A meeting, headed by CDA Chairman Maroof Afzal, was held to discuss the issue at the Capital Development Authority’s (CDA) headquarters on Friday.

Representatives from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Punjab’s wildlife department, the Lahore and Islamabad zoos, the Pakistan Animal Welfare Society (Paws), and various civic agency officials attended at the meeting.

A senior official from the Islamabad Zoo present at the meeting told The Express Tribune that the gathering did not discuss sending Kaavan to a sanctuary.

“The matter was neither raised by the representatives from both WWF and PAWS; nor did the CDA management bring up the matter,” the official said.

“CDA will request the Sri Lankan government to educate and assist zoo staffers to better manage wildlife at the Islamabad Zoo, especially Kaavan,” said a news release issued by the civic agency following the meeting.

The agency also decided to revive a defunct 2012 committee formed for the conservation of zoo and wildlife.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 3^rd, 2015.