Veterinary experts to visit Pak to check elephant Kaavan

The zoo officials said the elephant developed health complications over the years and was put in chains due to fear of attacking the visitors. Muhammad Saleem, spokesman of the Ministry of Climate Change, said the veterinary experts are expected to arrive in Islamabad before the end of August.

Pakistan said on Wednesday that its mission in Bangkok has issued visas to three veterinary experts for the health assessment of an elephant before its relocation to a wildlife sanctuary in Cambodia. After spending over three decades in the Islamabad's Marghazar Zoo, Kaavan will be relocated to a 25,000-acre sanctuary in Cambodia if found fit to travel to the East Asian country.

The Islamabad High Court last month asked the government to relocate the elephant to Cambodia after global animal rights groups launched a campaign highlighting that it was chained and mistreated in the small zoo here. The zoo officials said the elephant developed health complications over the years and was put in chains due to fear of attacking the visitors.

Muhammad Saleem, spokesman of the Ministry of Climate Change, said the veterinary experts are expected to arrive in Islamabad before the end of August. Kaavan was gifted by Sri Lanka in 1985 and it was a great source of attraction for children as well as adults in the zoo at the foothills of Margalla Hills.