By Sheerein Sheikh
ISLAMABAD: Will Kaavan go to Cambodia or he will stay here in a sanctuary? It will be decided in an important meeting to be held on Wednesday, sources said on Tuesday. The Ministry of Climate Change (MoCC) has now changed it’s mind to shift Kaavan, the elephant, to Cambodia and now insisting upon shifting the vulnerable elephant that made international headlines to a sanctuary in Pakistan.
The Ministry of Climate Change’s important meeting that has been delayed for quite some time is now going to be held in Islamabad on Wednesday, i.e. today. The meeting will decide whether Kaavan will go to Cambodia or will stay here in Pakistan in a sanctuary.
A committee formulated to look into the matter of Kavaan earlier decided and implemented the work plan to shift the elephant Kaavan to Cambodia. But now the ministry is pondering something which was not decided earlier. However, ministry opposed the idea of sending the elephant to any other country.
The sources maintained that if Kaavan will be shifted to Cambodia he will be put into quarantine to familiarize him with the environment. It is pertinent to mention here that Kaavan has been dubbed as ‘World’s Loneliest Elephant’ by his supporters.
The animal activists of the region came to rescue the elephant and arranged a new campaign to dwell upon. Kaavan, an elephant, lived isolated for more than 35 years in the Islamabad Zoo. It lost it’s partner in 2012, and the zoo where it lived was being locked due to improper performance. Martin Bauer, a spokesman for advocacy community Four Paws, took the medical examination and permitted the elephant to travel to Cambodia after giving the medical approval. The medical examination results indicated the elephant had gone overweight and showed some whiff of malnutrition.
