Pointed bull hooks lunged into Kaavan’s side. Crowds had lined the fence of his enclosure to see Pakistan’s only Asian elephant and the sharp jab had meant that he was being told to perform for them.
Kaavan was once dubbed the ‘world’s loneliest elephant’. He is pictured in Marghazar Zoo, Islamabad, Pakistan before he was rescued
Pakistani caretaker looks at Kaavan at Marghazar Zoo in Islamabad, Pakistan, May 31, 2016
Cher meetings the ‘world’s loneliest elephant’ Kavaan after she flew to Pakistan to help secure his rescue in November 2020
To turn back time, Kaavan was born in Sri Lanka in 1985 and started life at the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage 60 miles (96km) northeast of the capital Colombo. It’s thought that the baby elephant was a gift to General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq’s government for supporting the Sri Lankan army during an insurgency.
Kavaan, Pakistan’s only Asian elephant, entered to feed inside a transport crate to make him habituated before he travelled to a sanctuary in Cambodia, at the Marghazar Zoo in Islamabad, November 11, 2020
A team of veterinarians from the international animal welfare organization ‘Four Paws’ briefs media prior to examining Kaavan at Maragzar Zoo, Islamabad, Pakistan, Friday, September 4, 2020