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Kaavan, the loneliest elephant in the world was rescued by singer Cher (AFP via Getty Images)
L
ike an abandoned prison or asylum, the overgrown grounds of the now-shuttered Marghazar Zoo are filled with ghosts, and their rusting, barred enclosures hold sad clues to the neglect and mistreatment its inhabitants endured.
The most haunting site is the scarred concrete hangar where Kaavan the Asian elephant – the zoo’s main attraction – spent years in isolation, often immobilised by leg chains, rocking back and forth for hours. A heavy ring is still bolted to the floor, surrounded by brown husks of the sugar cane that was his only diet.