Cher has helped come to the rescue of an elephant living in dire conditions at a zoo in Pakistan on Twitter.
For 30 years, Asian elephant Kaavan lived a sad life restrained by chains. His only companion, an elephant named Saheli, died in 2012 leaving Kaavan alone and grieving. A campaign was launched to remove Kaavan from the Marghazar Zoo and take him to a sanctuary in Cambodia.
The rescue of Kaavan was led by FOUR PAWS, a global animal welfare organization for animals under direct human influence, in cooperation with the Pakistani authorities, American businessman Eric S. Margolis and the nonprofit Free The Wild, co-funded by Cher.
On Monday, the Eric S. Margolis Foundation helped transport the elephant from Pakistan to Cambodia.
#FreeKaavan 🐘: Kaavan arrived! ✈️
Last night the loneliest elephant in the world was loaded on an airplane in Islamabad. Together with the team on-site, Dr Frank Goeritz and Dr Amir Khalil were right by his side throughout the whole trip. pic.twitter.com/b1745OQFsi— FOUR PAWS (@fourpawsint) November 30, 2020
Kaavan will live at his sanctuary with three other elephants.
#FreeKaavan 🐘: First contact in 8 years!
We can now officially call him the “former loneliest elephant in the world”! Seeing Kaavan interacting with other elephants is a huge moment for us but more importantly for Kaavan. 💕We are extremely moved! pic.twitter.com/x5k60XTORP— FOUR PAWS (@fourpawsint) December 1, 2020
A documentary on the Smithsonian Channel will air telling the story of Cher and Kaavan’s journey.
🐘Kaavan’s journey to freedom from captivity in Islamabad to Cambodia will be a 2021 @SmithsonianChan documentary ❤️ Help us build Kaavan’s forever home 🏡 https://t.co/dzdl4Ew4gn 🙏🏻@ftwglobal #KaavansJourney pic.twitter.com/iTxdzfndNB
— Cher (@cher) November 27, 2020