With Songs And Sedation, Experts Aim To Rescue Kaavan The Islamabad Elephant

“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 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.