Update: Kavaan, the lonely elephant who has spent 35 years in captivity at an Islamabad zoo, was loaded into a Russian cargo jet today for a flight to his new life in a Cambodian elephant refuge where he will enjoy the company of other Asian elephants. Kavaan was slowly cajoled into entering his transportation crate backwards during the night. His jet is scheduled to leave on Monday for Cambodia. Kavaan was seriously overweight from a diet of 550 lbs of sugar cane. He was put on a diet and lost one thousand pounds over the past three months. The Asian elephant ladies awaiting his arrival should appreciate his new figure. His foot condition caused by confinement with chains will require more treatment in Cambodia.
Kavaan lost his mate, Saheli, in 2012. She developed a small food infection that went untreated ending in gangreen. Kavaan suffered from the lost, exhibiting stereotypical behaviors of boredom and misery. Celebrity Cher contributed to rescuing Kavaan through her non-profit Four Paws. A documentary is being made of Kavaan's journey to freedom.
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| Mara in the zoo |
The zoo was the height of fashion in 1904 when an elephant enclosure was built to resemble a Hindu temple. [photo] Mara had been imprisoned in the small enclosure with two African elephants for two decades. Mara did not get along with a different a race, a problem that should be familiar to humans. Keepers were forced to alternate exhibiting Mara outside; when the African elephants were outside, Mara was forced to stand for extended periods in a cage. Before that she performed in a circus, where she killed one of her captors. She was an unhappy elephant exhibiting stereotypical swaying of distress.
Mara's salvation began when the city took over running the zoo and began rethinking the concept of keeping exotic animals in captivity in response to citizens' protests. Twenty-five hundred animals were confined in just 42 acres in 2016. Planners decided to replace the zoo with an "ecopark" where residents could learn about conservation and interact with indigenous animals being rehabilitated for release to the wild. Just two years before, Argentina became one of the first nations to recognize the person-hood of a great ape, Sandra, who also lived at the zoo. The massive logistic hurdles were eventually overcome, and by spring of this year 861 animals had been relocated to sanctuaries.
Understandably Mara's international movement to the Mato Grasso sanctuary required a mound of paperwork, including an investigation into Mara's previous life. She had grown up in an Indian work camp and was purchased by the Tejidor family, circus owners, from a Hamburg zoo. The unfortunate Mara had spent her entire life in captivity. Despite great perseverance in coordinating her translocation to Brazil, her human guardians were thwarted by the pandemic. Argentina imposed one of the strictest lockdowns on Earth. Fortunately authorities were eager to make Mara's move possible. The arduous journey 1700 journey exhausted Mara, but she survived the final forty miles of rough road to the trees, grass, and open space of the sanctuary. She bonded quickly with another Asia elephant, Rana, after being starved of company during many years of isolation. Freedom was a long time coming for Mara, but she is in a much better place now. GREEN KUDOS to Buenos Aires!
{04.08.20} Prison reformers think that incarceration in a "supermax" prison where inmates are confined to their cells for 23 hours a day, is like being buried alive. Prisoners are literally driven insane by the endless confinement. Imprisonment for elephants, a highly intelligent and social animal is has similar psychological effects which can be observed in their daily behaviors. There is fantastic news for one imprisoned male elephant whose only crime is being an elephant. Kaavan, Sri Lankan elephant given to the Islamabad Zoo thirty five years ago is to be set free from his sterile condition and sent to a Cambodian refuge where he can roam free with other rescued elephants. The Islamabad High Court ruled on May 22nd that Kaavan be relocated to Cambodia. Pakistan does not have such a facility, so the authorities chose the elephant sanctuary abroad. Kaavan was given to Pakistan by Sri Lanka as a gift to strengthen bilateral relations in 1985 without considering the effects of captivity or the elephant's right to live freely.
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| credit: D. Jayantha |
Kavaan got a mate in 1990, but Saheli died in 2012. Since then Kavann has been alone in his cell. He began to exhibit symptoms of boredom, lethargy, stress, and later showing no respect for authority, aggression. This development caused his keepers to further restrict his movements by chaining him. Animal welfare experts have complained about treatment of captive elephants as they often experience mistreatment at the hands of their captors. Kavaan imprisonment captured worldwide attention. Animal rights activist, including the celebrity Cher, campaigned for his release beginning in 2016. A petition for his release gained 400,000 signatures. The court's decision delighted elephant advocates.
Transferring Kavaan to a foreign country will undoubtedly be very stressful for the thirty-five year old; his relocation must be handled with utmost care and respect. But the benefits to Kavaan being able to move freely and socialize with others of his kind are immeasurable. A Sri Lankan biologist who studies elephant social behavior says putting an elephant in captivity is like putting humans in solitary confinement indefinitely. "Deprivation of social interactions is a form of trauma, or one might even say torture.” Although bull elephants are more solitary than females, they still need relationships with other elephants. Elephants have long played a central role in Sri Lakan culture, but despite their importance to humans, they are often trained with cruel beating and stabbing with sharp ankus, or bull hooks. Sri Lanka holds the world's record for the highest number of annual Asian elephant deaths. Recently an old, emaciated and sick elephant, Tikiri, was forced to parade in a religious pageant until she fell dead. May Tikiri rest with her kin in peace.