'Cher & The Loneliest Elephant': new documentary explores how superstar saved neglected Kaavan from Pakistan zoo

The singer was at the forefront of a campaign to free the mistreated animal from the zoo where he lived for 35 years

US pop singer Cher gestures in front of the crate of Kaavan the Asian elephant upon his arrival in Cambodia from Pakistan at Siem Reap International Airport on November 30, 2020. AFP

Cher arrives at Siem Reap International Airport, Cambodia. EPA

Cher watches as rescued elephant Kaavan arrives at the international airport in Siem Reap, Cambodia. AP

Kavaan is offloaded from the plane in Siem Reap airport arrival in Cambodia. Courtesy Four Paws

Kavaan arrives in Cambodia. Courtesy Four Paws

Cher holds a welcoming sign for rescued elephant Kaavan in Siem Reap, Cambodia. AP

Cher and Cambodia's Deputy Minister of Environment Neth Pheaktra await the arrival of a crate containing Kaavan the elephant from Pakistan at Siem Reap International Airport. AFP

Cher and Cambodia's Deputy Minister of Environment Neth Pheaktra await the arrival of a crate containing Kaavan the elephant from Pakistan at Siem Reap International Airport. AFP

Cher reacts as the crate containing Kaavan the Asian elephant is opened for his release into his new home in the Kulen Prom Tep Wildlife Sanctuary in Oddar Meanchey Province. AFP

Cher arrives at Siem Reap International Airport in Cambodia. EPA

Cher at the arrival of Kavaan in Cambodia. Courtesy Four Paws

Elephant Kaavan is finally relocated from Marghazar Zoo in Islamabad to Cambodia. Four Paws

Elephant Kaavan is finally relocated from Marghazar Zoo in Islamabad to Cambodia. Four Paws

Amir Khalil, a veterinarian and director of the project development for Four Paws International, feeds Kaavan, Pakistan's only Asian elephant, in a crate prior to transport it to a sanctuary in Cambodia, at the Marghazar Zoo in Islamabad. AFP

Pakistani wildlife workers, officials and experts from the international animal welfare organization Four Paws, pose for photograph next to a crate holding an elephant named Kaavan before he is transported to a sanctuary in Cambodia, at the Marghazar Zoo in Islamabad, Pakistan. AP

Veterinarians from the international animal welfare organization Four Paws inject medicine to an elephant named Kaavan before transporting him to a sanctuary in Cambodia. AP

Pakistani wildlife workers and experts from the international animal welfare organization Four Paws, use a crane to move a crate carrying an elephant named Kaavan before transporting him to a sanctuary in Cambodia. AP

Pakistani wildlife workers and experts from the international animal welfare organization Four Paws, arrange an elephant named Kaavan into a crate before he is transported to a sanctuary in Cambodia. AP

American Iconic singer and actress Cher visits the elephant named 'Kaavan' at Maragzar zoo in Islamabad, Pakistan. EPA

American Iconic singer and actress Cher visits the elephant named 'Kaavan' at Maragzar zoo in Islamabad, Pakistan. EPA

Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan meeting with American pop icon Cher, in Islamabad, Pakistan. EPA

Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan meeting with American pop icon Cher, in Islamabad, Pakistan. EPA

A photographer takes a picture of an elephant named "Kaavan" waiting to be transported to a sanctuary in Cambodia, at the Maragzar Zoo in Islamabad, Pakistan. AP

Officials of Four Paws International and wildlife rangers move Kavaan, Pakistan's only Asian elephant, into a crate prior to transport it to a sanctuary in Cambodia, at the Marghazar Zoo in Islamabad. AFP

In December 2020, Cher set off on a journey across the world in a bid to save the "world's loneliest elephant."

The star travelled to Pakistan alongside Four Paws International, the Vienna-based animal welfare group, to meet Kaavan, an Asian elephant who languished in a tiny enclosure in Islamabad Zoo in Pakistan for more than 35 years.

He was chained up, overweight, and completely alone, after his only mate died in 2012 after developing sepsis from the chain and bull-hook nails digging into her skin. Seemingly forgotten about, Kaavan entered a slow psychosis, and spent all day compulsively rocking backwards and forwards.

That is, until Cher came along. The superstar made it her mission to free Kaavan after first learning of his story on social media in 2016. Alongside a team of animal welfare charity workers, the star spearheaded the campaign to have him rehomed.

After years of campaigning, a court ordered Kaavan be freed in May 2020, a victory the Oscar-winner described as “the greatest moment of my life.”

Later that year, Cher travelled to Pakistan again to be there for the moment Kaavan was transferred to a sanctuary in Cambodia. That journey is now the subject of a new documentary, Cher & The Loneliest Elephant, set to stream on Paramount+ from Thursday.

"I remember when I started to hear about it [on Twitter], because it came in sort of a flood," Cher told Smithsonian Magazine. "It was all 'Save Kaavan, Save Kaavan' and 'Free Kaavan, Free Kaavan'—it was constant.

“All of a sudden, I was just doing it,” she said. “I didn’t expect anything, but I was going to say to myself, ‘Yeah, you tried.’

“It was so hard in the beginning,” she added. “The administration didn’t even want to talk to us. They weren’t kind, they weren’t interested, they just really didn’t care.”

Cher also revealed she regularly checks up on Kaavan in his new home in Cambodia via video call. “Oh, he’s so happy there,” she said. “I knew it the moment we let him out of the crate.

“Elephants are so amazing, they’re like human beings, only better.”

Cher & The Loneliest Elephant is streaming on Paramount+ from Thursday, 2021, to coincide with Earth Day