Cher has added her support to a campaign to free a lonely elephant who has been kept chained in a Pakistani zoo for 27 years.
The Believe hitmaker first became aware of 29-year-old Kavaan when pictures of him in captivity, with only a dilapidated shed for shelter and a small, dirty pond to play in, hit social media.
The pop icon and actress sent her representative, Mark Cowne, to check up on the animal, who has been chained up for most of his life at the Maraghazar Zoo in Islamabad.
"Mark got Kaavan Water, Shade & Unchained. MARK IS TRYING EVERYTHING TO FREE HIM (sic)," Cher wrote on Twitter earlier this month (Jun16) after Cowne visited the zoo.
Kavaan's caretakers, who claimed to have never heard of Cher or her music, said they were grateful for her help. "We hope this will change things for him," said Muhammad Jalal.
Cowne told Pakistan's Dawn newspaper during his visit that Cher would soon launch an international campaign to help elephants in captivity.
Representatives from the zoo have yet to comment on the story, but told reporters last month (May16) they were trying to get a new mate for Kavaan from Sri Lanka.
Kavaan was given to Pakistan by Sri Lankan officials in the 1980s, and his only companion died in 2012.
Saving the elephant is not the 70-year-old's first major aid campaign of 2016 - she started the year by becoming one of the first celebrities to highlight the Flint water crisis in Michigan, sending crates of bottled water and supplies to the thirsty locals in the pollution-hit city, who have not had clean running water since 2014, when officials decided to draw from the dirty Flint River, which has tested positive for lead poisoning.
