elephants

A happy ending for this beautiful gentle giant.

Kaavan, a 35-year-old and overweight Asian elephant, has spent the majority of his life alone in captivity. Kaavan has spent all those years alone in captivity in a controversial Islamabad Zoo, in Pakistan, where Kaavan suffered from lack of exercise and malformed nails that come from living in inappropriate structures. Back in 2012, after Kaavan partner passed on, he was dubbed the "world's loneliest elephant."

Islamabad's High Court closed the zoo due to its poor conditions that gain public outcry and gave the international animal welfare organization Four Paws permission to take Kaavan and transfer him to a sanctuary where he can live with companions and in peace. 

As of now, Kaavan has arrived in Cambodia, and thanks to the large effort of music icon - Cher. Cher was also there in Cambodia to greet the elephant.

Cher was first made aware of Kaavan and his situation from the people of Twitter, thanks to the Smithsonian Channel producing a documentary on Kaavan's story. Cher told CNN, "I thought, 'how can I fix this? How can I save an elephant who's been shackled to a shed for 17 years and who is a thousand miles away? This is Free The Wild's first big rescue and I am so proud."

Cher campaigned for Kaavan's freedom for many years and just ahead of Kaavan's release, Cher traveled to Pakistan and serenaded Kaavan with Disney's classic, "A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes." This past Friday. Cher tweeted her thanks to the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, writing, "Just came from meeting to thank Prime Minister Imran Kahn for making it possible for me to take Kaavan to Cambodia."

Thank you, Cher, Four Paws, and all those involved for making Kaavan's dream come true! Our hearts are overjoyed at the happy news! We wish you a lifetime of happiness, Kaavan! 

We absolutely adore the gentle giants that roam the Earth! It's only appropriate that we honor their greatness with a large and in-charge elephant dump! All things elephants from memes, facts, to tumblr posts, tweets, and everything in-between! 

Let's lay down some awesome elefacts! As you probably already know, elephants are the largest living mammals on land. There are only two types of elephants, African and Asian. And if you couldn't tell them apart before we'll give you a major hint... it's all in the ears! African elephants have way larger ears than Asian elephants. African elephant ears are often described as being shaped like the continent of Africa itself and the ears of an Asian elephant are shaped like the subcontinent of Indian! There is also a slight trunk difference between the two, Asian elephants have two 'fingers' at the tip of their trunks, African elephants only have one. 

Read more about elephants and how you can help these beautiful creatures at WWF.

It's elephant appreciation day, and we've got a huge collection of pictures, memes, videos, and everything in between to celebrate our favorite gentle giant. They may be big, powerful, and really intimidating in the wild, but in pictures, they are unbelievably cute. And they makes for some really funny memes too. 

It's known that elephants never forget, so we must make sure to not forget them too. They are unique creatures in many ways. One cute fact about them is that, though their trunks look huge and may make us think that they'd be somewhat clumsy performing tasks that require a gentler hand, at the end of their trunks, they have a finger-like small appendage that allows them to pick up things as delicate as grass. Cool, right? So, get involved and use this special all-elephant day to learn about them and how to help them. And may you have an elephantastic day!

Kaavan, the elephant, had been living at a zoo in Pakistani, the capital of Islamabad, for more than 35 years. 

Sadly, Kaavan lost his partner in 2012 and has since been battling loneliness, as well as, living in poor conditions that have resulted in him being overweight, yet showing signs of malnutrition, cracked and overgrown nails of living in an enclosure with poor flooring that has damaged his feet. Up until now, Kaavan had been forced to live in a small enclosure, secluded from other elephants.

Now, steps have been taken to finalized Kaavan's transfer to an elephant sanctuary in Cambodia. A spokesman for Four Paws, Martin Bauer, announced this past Saturday that Kaavan had been granted medical approval to travel for a better life, but his journey to recovery will be a long one. Bauer said Kaavan's wounds are more than just physical, that he also suffers from behavioral issues. 

"He also developed stereotypical behavior, which means he shakes his head back and forth for hours. This is mainly because he is simply bored," said Bauer.

There is no word when Kaavan will travel, the push for his relocation has been going on since 2016 by rights activists. 

We are so happy that Kaavan will have a chance at a new, better life, and hope he travels to his new paradise soon! 

Story via The Guardian

It is claimed that elephants never forget. And we hope that's true especially for these elephants at the Thailand sanctuary, Elephant World, home to older elephants. 

Paul Barton, a classical pianist, has been sharing his talents with a rather large audience these days. And when we say "large," we mean it literally. Barton has been spending most of his time playing his beautiful music for the gentle giants of the elephant sanctuary. 

He first heard about the elephants when his wife discovered the sanctuary online. Barton explains in a video, "We liked the sound of the place being a retirement center for old, injured and handicapped former logging and trekking elephants. So we paid them a visit. I wondered if these old rescue elephants might like to listen to some slow classical music."

Barton reached out to the staff at Elephant World to see if he can bring his piano and serenade the elephants. The staff said yes. 

The first time Barton began to play for the elephants, one blind elephant, was in the midst of eating breakfast and stopped the second he heard the music. Barton had played Beethoven.

Barton continues to explain in a video,  "[He] was often in pain, and I like to think maybe the soothing the music gave him some comfort in the darkness," Barton tells CBS News that this elephant was the first to take to his music.  The musician said this was the first elephant to really take to his music. The gentle giant later died of an infection, sadly. Barton was heartbroken to hear the news. 

Barton continues to play for these old gentle giant, hoping the music soothes their soul. Even if the an elephant is blind, they don't need to see to hear and feel the music Barton is playing just for them. 

Elephants may just be the most incredible animals on Earth. Not only are they intelligent, but they have such a range for emotional capacity. 

They can feel, they express their happiness or their sadness. They are social creatures, like us. If a baby elephant cries, the herd will come to comfort the baby by caressing it with their trunks. 

Elephants are not only deep-feeling animals, they are the only species on Earth with their unique characteristics, not a single other animal shares a similar physique. 

And here's another wild fact for you -- elephants purr just like cats! Sure they communicate though trumpet sounds and such, but they also produce rumbles so low that the human ears don't pick up on it. 

There are just so many reasons why elephants are amazing but for now, we'll let you dive into some awesome facts about them! 

Did you know that most of the sounds elephants are making can't be heard by humans?   

Not only is the elephant a very intelligent and emotional creature, but it's also an animal of mystery with loads of secrets yet to be uncovered.

Here are some fascinating facts about these wonderful big creatures. 

BBC One shared a heartwarming post on their facebook page, shedding some light on the unusual grieving rituals and mainly, the endless empathy of these magnificent creatures. People were not surprised. 

Elephants are zooperstars so why not enjoy this trunk of fun posts from Tumblr? 

Today is 'World Elephant Day'! In honor of the occasion, we've gathered a few images and a lovely video of the beautiful and intelligent creatures! 

If you love elephants and want to do something special for them today, check out World Elephant Day, to find out how you can help!