PHNOM PENH: Efforts are being made to bring the “world’s loneliest elephant” to Cambodia.

An elephant who has become a cause to celebrate for animal rights activists around the world will be taken from a Pakistani zoo and transferred to a location with better conditions, according to Four Paws, the animal welfare group helping with the case.

Dubbed the “world’s loneliest elephant” by his supporters, Kaavan has lived in a zoo in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad for more than 35 years.

The overweight elephant underwent a full medical examination at the zoo on Friday, said the head of public relations of Four Paws, Martin Bauer.

In May, Pakistan’s High Court ordered the Marghazar Zoo to close due to abysmal conditions blamed on systemic negligence. After the zoo’s closure, animal activists and celebrities around the world, including American singer Cher, began lobbying for his relocation.

After Kaavan’s relocation was announced, Cher posted on Instagram: “When we knew we’d be able to pick-up Kaavan, we jumped up and down. We have worked on this for over five years. We will pick him up in Islamabad and take him to Cambodia.”

Marghazar Zoo in Islamabad has repeatedly made headlines for its poor animal welfare. In July 2020, shocking footage of two lions fighting a fire in their small enclosure surfaced. Both big cats eventually died as a result of smoke inhalation.

In recent years, over 500 animals have been reported missing, and in the last four years alone, over two dozen animals have died at Marghazar Zoo.

Originally the 28-hectare zoo was opened as a wildlife sanctuary in the Margalla Hills in Islamabad in 1978. Since its foundation, the zoo has been owned by the Pakistani capital Islamabad.