The trick to calming an unhappy elephant? Sing him Frank Sinatra songs, according to one of the vets tasked with assessing whether Kaavan can be moved from poor conditions in a zoo in Pakistan’s capital to a sanctuary in Cambodia.
Amir Khalil, a vet who has worked in war zones to rescue animals, is now in Islamabad with welfare organisation Four Paws to determine whether Kaavan is safe to travel after a Pakistan court ruled in May that all animals at Islamabad’s zoo must be set free or transferred to a better environment.
“When we arrived 10 days ago ... I started to train him and to sing to him and he accommodated me so we have a relationship,” he said, adding that he chose Sinatra’s hit My Way.
Animal rights advocates have long raised concerns about conditions at Islamabad’s zoo, where dozens of animals including six lion cubs have died in the past four years.
The court decision came after a four-year global campaign, backed by American singer Cher.
Plans are underway to move Kaavan, to Cambodia if possible.
The 36-year-old elephant has spent most of his life in a small enclosure with meagre shelter, and the last eight years alone after his companion elephant died.
But even with Sinatra, it is no easy feat moving an elephant thousands of miles.
Four Paws experts fired darts with a sedative so they could give the sleepy animal a comprehensive check-up.
As Kaavan woke up to eat some apples, Four Paws elephant specialist Frank Goeritz analysed the creature’s blood samples.
It will be a few days before he files a formal report.
“He is in good general condition... but he is totally obese, he weighs way too much and his feet are terrible,” said Goeritz, pointing to the elephant’s cracked and malformed toenails that will need medical attention.
He added that the outlook was hopeful.
“Let’s wait until we have all the results, but so far I don’t see a big problem with him travelling ... he is facing a good life.”
A transport crate must be built and the elephant habituated to it before being flown to a 25,000-acre Cambodian wildlife sanctuary in a “jumbo” jet – probably a giant Antonov An-225 airlift cargo plane.
With little legislation to safeguard animal welfare, zoos across Pakistan are notorious for their poor conditions.
In 2018, 30 animals died within months of a new zoo opening in the northwestern city of Peshawar, including three snow leopard cubs.
Goeritz said Kaavan has been eating up to 200kg of sugar cane each day and deprived of intellectual stimuli, resulting in “stereotypic” behaviour where he swooshes his head and trunk from side to side for hours on end.
“He is bored. He needs definitely physical and mental challenges,” said Goeritz, who has spent three decades working with captive elephants around the world.
Only a few animals remain at the zoo and attempts by local workers – many of whom have never been given animal care training – to move some of them have been disastrous.
Two lions and an ostrich died during or soon after they were relocated.
Zookeepers tried to scare one lion out of its pen by setting piles of hay on fire.
The zoo’s wolves and bears had been slated for relocation to a reserve in neighbouring Punjab province on Tuesday, but local officials rescinded the invitation at the last minute.
The bears are now destined for a wildlife sanctuary in Jordan, while a home has not yet been found for the wolves, a Four Paws spokesman said.
Amir Khalil, head of project development at FOUR PAWS International, with Kaavan, an elephant at the Marghazar Zoo in Islamabad.
