A 36-year-old elephant named Kavaan was the only Asian elephant in Pakistan until this past weekend. At only a year old, he was given to Pakistan as a gift from Sri Lanka. Kavaan hasn't always been alone, but since his mate died in 2012, he's been the sole elephant at the Marghazar Zoo. Now, after years of work and planning (most notably by Cher), Kavaan boarded a plane bound for a 25,000-acre sanctuary in Cambodia.
And I use the word “boarded” liberally here. It took hours for a team of experts to cajole Kaavan into a custom-built metal crate for the journey, and that was with the help of months of training, some light sedatives (for an elephant, at least), and sturdy chains. His crate was then loaded onto a truck and driven to Islamabad airport on Sunday, where a Russian cargo plane will take him to the 25,000-acre wildlife sanctuary, per the Guardian.
Cher was in Pakistan to see him off, and also in Cambodia to welcome Kavaan after his journey, which went smoothly once the elephant was loaded. Officials hope Kavaan will breed with the Cambodian elephants, bringing some needed genetic diversity to their group.