{"id":102769,"date":"2020-05-24T20:07:48","date_gmt":"2020-05-25T03:07:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=102769"},"modified":"2020-05-25T04:21:24","modified_gmt":"2020-05-25T11:21:24","slug":"us-singer-cher-champions-release-of-kavan-sri-lankas-lonely-elephant-from-a-pakistani-zoo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/05\/24\/us-singer-cher-champions-release-of-kavan-sri-lankas-lonely-elephant-from-a-pakistani-zoo\/","title":{"rendered":"US singer Cher champions release of Kavan, Sri Lanka\u2019s \u2018lonely elephant\u2019 from a Pakistani zoo"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Kavan, the elephant has been in Murghazar Zoo, Islamabad, Pakistan since 1987 when he was gifted by President J R Jayawardena to Pakistan\u2019s President Gen. Zia-ur Haq. Just 1 years old he was taken from his mother and given as a State gift to another country. Sri Lanka\u2019s leaders did not think to seek permission from Kavan\u2019s mother. What mother would like to have her precious child taken away and sent across the seas, never to be seen again? It was a morally wrong Presidential decision sans compassion. Were there no better gifts to give in exchange for diplomatic pleasantries?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kavan lost his companion Saheli who arrived from Bangladesh in 1990 and died in 2012. Kavan had no companion since and loneliness was affecting him badly. He soon came to be known as Pakistan\u2019s lonely elephant. It was in 2016 that American singer Cher heard about Kavan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She inquired about him from Zoo officials in Pakistan. She petitioned for his freedom and she kept the struggle to free Kavan.  Good news arrives 4 years later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Pakistani court in Islamabad has given Kavan his freedom after 33 years cooped up in a zoo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kavan is to be a slave no more and Cher has played a major role to secure his freedom. Where does Kavan go to now is the question we all want answered. Kavan can no longer be put into a zoo. He must be allowed to move with fellow elephants in his home Sri Lanka and Sri Lanka\u2019s officials and animal rights groups must ensure Kavan finally enjoys his freedom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Singer Cher must be applauded for campaigning for 4 years to secure his release having felt saddened by photos of the elephant living alone and held in chains. Naturally Cher is jubilant. She had broken into tears hearing the news.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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