freedom

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! 

Meet Sandra, an Orangutan who has spent 25 years in a tiny prison cell-like enclosure in a zoo in Argentina, isolated from any other Orangutans.

Sandra was born in captivity, and has lived at the zoo in Buenos Aires Zoo for 20 years when the zoo officially closed it's doors in 2016. The park officials announced the animals within the zoo would be set free but the experts struggled with the decision on what to do with Sandra. 

According to a court ruling in 2014, Sandra was considered a 'non-human person,' who was entitled to some legal rights enjoyed by humans. However, the judge who fought to free Sandra in 2014 took the side of the zoo caretakers and thought the best course of action to take with Sandra would be just to improve conditions within her cage, rather than send her to a reserve aboard. 

Many officials feared that moving her would all result in negative aspects, fearing she would not survive. 

Today, she has been granted 'personhood' and is officially settling into her new life in Wauchula, Florida, along with 21 other rescued orangutans and chimpanzees!