Govt working to expand protected areas for animals: Adviser

0
61

TLTP
ISLAMABAD
Advisor to the Prime Minister on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam has said that the government is working on expansion of protected areas for animals to provide them a free environment through the ‘Protected Area Initiative.’
Malik Amin Aslam was talking to media persons here at Islamabad Zoo on Sunday on the occasion of shifting of Kaavan elephant to Cambodia.
The advisor said now Kaavan will be living in a sprawling 25,000-acres sanctuary in Cambodia. He said that a reception committee would receive Kaavan at the Cambodian airport.
Initially, Kaavan will be kept in a 10-acre area prepared for him, from where he will be able to see others of his species, Aslam said. “Sending him to a place where he can be with other elephants of his kind […] is really the right choice,” he said. “We will be happy to see him happy in Cambodia and we hope he finds a partner very soon,” he added
Following years of public outcry and campaigning by American pop star Cher, the “world’s loneliest elephant” was poised on Sunday to embark on a mammoth journey from Pakistan to a sanctuary in Cambodia.
The famed singer and Oscar-winning actress has spent recent days at the Islamabad zoo to provide moral support to Kaavan – an overweight, 35-year-old bull elephant – whose pitiful treatment at the dilapidated facility sparked an uproar from animal rights groups and a spirited social media campaign by Cher.
Kaavan’s case and the woeful conditions at the zoo resulted in a judge this year ordering all the animals to be moved.
“Thanks to Cher and also to local Pakistani activists, Kaavan’s fate made headlines around the globe and this contributed to the facilitation of his transfer,” said Martin Bauer, a spokesman for Four Paws International – an animal welfare group that has spearheaded the relocation effort. Cher “has quite a big platform so we have really appreciated what she has done for Kaavan since 2016”, he said.
Cher arrived in Islamabad to see the elephant before his long journey to a 10,000-hectare Cambodian wildlife sanctuary, with Prime Minister Imran Khan personally thanking the 74-year-old star during a meeting on Friday. She was due to fly to Cambodia on Sunday to be in the South-East Asian nation when the elephant arrives.
Kaavan’s mate Saheli, who also arrived from Sri Lanka, died in 2012. Rights groups and conservationists have said that the abysmal conditions at the Islamabad zoo resulted in part from the lack of animal welfare laws in Pakistan.