The charity Four Paws have a goal: to give the animals at the Marghazar Zoo in Pakistan a new life full of care and happiness.
And there’s someone there who particularly needs help.
He’s called Kaavan.
Kaavan is an Asian Elephant.
He’s lived restrained by chains for 30 years. Since 2012, he’s been on his own – his only companion, Saheli, died then.
Four Paws want to bring Kaavan to a sanctuary in Cambodia, a journey of over 4,000 kilometres.
They have the support of the IWMB and Pakistani community.
Kaavan has the green light to go after being examined. But Four Paws need help to give Kaavan the medical care he needs after three decades in confinement and isolation. He’ll be their heaviest rescue so far, and he’ll be loaded into a custom-built create onto a heavy-duty cargo plane for his journey – the weight of Kaavan and his crate is about 10 tons!
Will you help? Please spread the word – and better still, donate! Every little will help this huge elephant take this huge step to sanctuary!
It’s Orangutan Caring Week from 8 to 14 November 2020.
The event started off as Orangutan Awareness Week but as with so many other species, it’s clear that raising awareness just isn’t enough.
We need to care enough to take action and save these amazing animals and their rainforest homes.
Rainforests matter
Rainforests and ecosystems are essential to all our health and wellbeing and they need to be sustainably managed so that they can continue to help us all stay well. They help moderate the climate, they are critical to maintain water quality and for erosion control. They are known for their biodiversity. It’s important that people know that rainforests matter for ALL our wellbeing.
The Orangutan Caring Week 2020:
The theme this year is: Protecting Biodiversity for a healthy planet”
And how appropriate that theme is. Covid-19 has really raised awareness of how all our health and wellbeing is interlinked.
COVID-19 hasn’t yet been observed in great apes, but scientific evidence shows that they are susceptible to diseases transmitted by humans. And scientists fear that the virus could jump to gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos and orangutans, who share 97 to 99% of their DNA with people.
The orangutans are also facing habitat loss, habitat degradation, illegal hunting, and an illegal pet trade.
Every precaution is being taken to protect the orangutans and staff at rescue and rehabilitation centres. Unfortunately, this means that expenses are rising as centres have to buy in food, gowns, gloves and testing. More orangutans are coming into the centres who need to be cared for.
The climate crisis and mass extinction threatening thousands of animals and plants mean that the need for action is clear.
Orangutans have lived in harmony with nature for millions of years. And now, because of human activity, their populations have plummeted by over 50% over the past 60 years. Their habitat has been reduced by 55% in the last 20 years alone.
We must protect wildlife habitats.
Some of the newest disease – Ebola, SARS, Covd-19 – have come about when humans have crossed the natural barriers between people and animal populations. We must give critically endangered species their right to safe, thriving habitats, where they can be unbothered by people.
Save orangutans and we are making changes to perhaps protect all life on earth.
Animals Asia has an exclusive Memorandum of Understanding with the Vietnamese government to end bear bile farming by 2022 and to rehome over 400 bears who are still on bear bile farms in Vietnam.
Uno has just been rescued… No sky over his head or grass beneath his paws because he’d lived in a cage for 18 years
The charity most recently rescued Uno, who had spent 18 years with no sky above him and no grass beneath his paws. The male Asiatic black bear (moon bear) was handed over by the family who had kept him in his cage for 18 years.
The rescue occurred just a few minutes from Phung Thuong Village. This is the largest bear bile farming region in Vietnam. 146 bear are still in a cage for bile extraction.
Voluntary surrenders to Animals Asia are really important because they show a change in attitude and also that kindness to bears really matters.
The rescue was a significant step towards our goal as it took place just minutes down the road from Phung Thuong Village, the largest bear bile farming region in Vietnam, where 146 bears remain caged for bile extraction.