This is Kavaan and this is his journey to freedom which ended today, 30th Of November 2020.

Kavaan has lived in a very dismal enclosure in an Islamabad zoo for over 30 years. 

He developed the stereotypical behaviour of swaying as his mind tried to deal with his loneliness and boredom and abject misery.

For many years people have been petitioning for his release to a sanctuary. I remember signing petitions for him way back when I was still living in Jakarta.

Cher started working for his release in 2016 and finally she was able to join him on his journey to freedom from Islamabad in Pakistan to a beautiful sanctuary just outside of Siem Reap in Cambodia.

with support from Four Paws International and Elephant Nature Park's Darrick Thompson, the collaboration was a mammoth project that took lots of planning and lots and lots of donations from all over the world.

Donations paid for vets, carers, vehicles, and a Russian plane big enough to load him on board for a 7 hour flight to Cambodia.

It took several months to build his transport crate and train him to get accustomed to spending time in the crate to prepare him for a very long journey to Cambodia.

training took lots of patience and lots of favorite treats to get Kavaan to feel safe in his transport crate.

he had to learn not to fear the transport crate so it was placed beside his enclosure for days before any training started.

The day finally arrived and it was time to load him onto the crate and start the very long gruelling journey to his new home.

it tooks days of preparation, supplies gathered and loaded onto the plane.

Time to go..

(please click Watch on Youtube)

Finally it was time to load him into the plane...

supervised very meticulously by the Four Paws team and vets to ensure Kavaan stays calm and does not panic.

Cher and the team wishing Kavaan bon voyage

for the first time in 35 years Kavaan's enclosure is empty.

Touchdown in Cambodia...

In Cambodia Cher is waiting for Kavaan's plane to land...

Welcome home reception and blessing from Buddhist monks.

(please click Watch on youtube)

The restraints on his legs were necessary to keep everyone safe on board the flight in case of panic. Nobody could know how Kavaan would react to 7 hours of flying in a restrictive crate.

Freshening up before the two hour drive from the airport to the sanctuary, his new home in Cambodia

Darrick Thompson from Elephant Nature Park takes over for the last leg of Kavaan's journey to sanctuary, here he explains how Kavaan is doing, and information about the tethering and what life will be like for Kavaan in his new home.

This has been happening all day today and as I post this, Kavaan and the team are driving home to the sanctuary where his beautiful new life awaits.

I will post more when he arrives and his first days at the sanctuary.

He will be meeting two lovely ladies Sarai Mia and Arun Reah and who knows, this could be the start of a beautiful new elephant romance!!

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