Kaavan

It was his first contact with another elephant in eight years. Reaching out with his trunk, Kaavan tentatively greeted a fellow inhabitant of the Cambodian sanctuary where he is beginning his new life after being rescued from grim conditions in a Pakistani zoo.

Following years of public outcry and campaigning by American pop star Cher, the "world's loneliest elephant" embarked Sunday on a mammoth move from Pakistan to retirement in a Cambodian sanctuary.

Pakistan's lonely elephant Kaavan has become the subject of a high-profile rights campaign backed by music icon Cher, but efforts to improve the pachyderm's lot appear limited.

It was his first contact with another elephant in eight years. Reaching out with his trunk, Kaavan tentatively greeted a fellow inhabitant of the Cambodian sanctuary where he is beginning his new life after being rescued from grim conditions in a Pakistani zoo.

Following years of public outcry and campaigning by American pop star Cher, the "world's loneliest elephant" embarked Sunday on a mammoth move from Pakistan to retirement in a Cambodian sanctuary.

Pakistan's lonely elephant Kaavan has become the subject of a high-profile rights campaign backed by music icon Cher, but efforts to improve the pachyderm's lot appear limited.