Int’l charity to help build wildlife sanctuaries

Islamabad : ‘Free The Wild’, an international charity working for wild animals, has promised to help Pakistan build wildlife sanctuaries.

In a letter to the premier's aide on climate change, Malik Amin Aslam, the organisation’s co-founder, Mark Cowne, said Kaavan, the lone elephant of Islamabad's zoo, had safely been shifted to a wildlife sanctuary in Cambodia, so he [Malik Amin] should visit him.

“Whilst we will keep you advised of his progress, we would like to invite you personally to come to the sanctuary and see him in his new home.”

Cowne said the minister’s aim to develop wildlife sanctuaries for the reintroduction of White Rhinos and cheetahs in Pakistan would be beneficial in recreational aspects for people and the substantial international eco-tourism market.

“Free The Wild would be really pleased to assist you, and the government, with the plan,” he wrote in the letter.

Kaavan spent 35 years of his life at Islamabad’s Marghazar Zoo and eight of those years were in solitude. He was flown Cambodia on November 29.