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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.
The 32-year-old Asian elephant is suffering from "mental illness", and without a better habitat his future is bleak, even if a long-promised new mate finally arrives, experts said.
Outrage over Kaavan's treatment went global - with a petition garnering over 200,000 signatures - after it emerged he was being chained at the Islamabad Zoo in Pakistan's capital.
Zoo officials have said this is no longer the case, and that Kaavan just needs a new mate.
But his behaviour - including signs of distress such as bobbing his head repeatedly - demonstrates "a kind of mental...