Elephant confined to small pen for three decades sparks uproar in Pakistan
The plight of Kaavan, a mentally tormented bull elephant confined to a small pen in Islamabad Zoo for nearly three decades, has galvanised a rare animal rights campaign in Pakistan.
Local and international animal rights organisations launched the campaign a year ago after reports that keepers were beating the elephant and denying him food.
An online petition has gained more than 280,000 signatures and small protests have been held outside the zoo.
Raza Rabbani, the chairman of Pakistan's senate, has urged the authorities to transfer Kaavan to a sanctuary.
The campaign has also attracted international attention, with rights groups and celebrities, including singer Cher, calling for the elephant to be moved to a more humane facility.
Elephants are gregarious by nature, and males can become aggressive when they are separated from the herd.
Kaavan, who was taken to Islamabad Zoo from Sri Lanka in the mid-1980s, grew even more unruly when the female elephant he was being kept with died in 2012.
Activists say caretakers have responded to his aggression by chaining his legs, beating him, and confining him to an enclosure that is far too small.
Sunny Jamil, an activist at the Help Welfare Organisation, a local animal rights group, said the mangled ceiling fan in the roof of the enclosure testifies to its insufficient height.
Mr Jamil, who visits the zoo regularly, said the temperature in the pen can reach 40C (104F) in the summer, and that the elephant is given little water to cool down.
"It is cruel," he said.
Mohammad Jalal, the 36-year-old elephant's caretaker, said: "I have hardly seen him happy."
PLEASE SIGN THIS PETITION TO SAVE KAAVAN FROM LIVING HELL. HE NEEDS OUR HELP NOW. THANK YOU!https://t.co/t8sc09jPY0 pic.twitter.com/j9PhW5DQ2W
— ElephantRescue.Net (@elephantplan) January 10, 2016
Kaavan swayed back and forth as Mr Jalal spoke - a sign of mental torment - and at one point hurled a brick at onlookers, nearly striking an Associated Press cameraman.
Animal rights groups have called on Pakistan to relocate Kaavan to an animal sanctuary in Burma and have launched petitions to cover the costs.
But the Capital Development Authority, the local agency in charge of managing the zoo, has refused, perhaps fearing it would lose visitors.
Instead, it is working on bringing in another female elephant, said Sanaullah Aman, an official with the agency.
Mr Aman denied the allegations of abuse and said "every possible step" was being taken to ensure Kaavan's well-being, without elaborating.
This is the concrete pit in which a bear is kept captive in Islamabad zoo. It's right next to Kaavan's enclosure. pic.twitter.com/KAz1iCvlrB
— Pakistan Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) (@pawspakistan) July 4, 2016
