ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s lonely elephant Kaavan has become the subject of a high-profile rights campaign backed by music icon Cher, but efforts to improve the pachyderm’s lot appear limited.
The 32-year-old Asian elephant is suffering from “mental illness,” and without a better habitat his future is bleak even if a long-promised new mate finally arrives, experts told AFP.
Outrage over Kaavan’s treatment went global — with a petition garnering over 200,000 signatures — after it emerged he was being chained at the Islamabad Zoo in Pakistan’s leafy capital.
Zoo officials have said this is no longer the case, and that Kaavan just needs a new mate after his previous partner died in 2012.
The 32-year-old Asian elephant is suffering from “mental illness,” and without a better habitat his future is bleak even if a long-promised new mate finally arrives, experts told AFP.
Outrage over Kaavan’s treatment went global — with a petition garnering over 200,000 signatures — after it emerged he was being chained at the Islamabad Zoo in Pakistan’s leafy capital.
Zoo officials have said this is no longer the case, and that Kaavan just needs a new mate after his previous partner died in 2012.
