Kavaan spends whole night in rain.

Byline: Kashif Abbasi

ISLAMABAD -- There seems to be no end to the suffering of Kavaan - the lone elephant at the Marghazar Zoo - as the animal spent an entire chilly and rainy night in the moat on Thursday.

Officials in the zoo said Kavaan fell into the moat on Thursday evening and was pulled out after breaking the front wall of the moat on Friday morning.

However, there were conflicting reports about how the elephant ended up in the moat.

Some officials claimed that the elephant was deliberately brought down to the moat by a zoo official to make it an issue.

They said there was no sign to indicate that the animal slipped into the moat. They also said Kavaan remained in the ditch standing. None of the zoo officials deputed with Kavaan were present on duty.

However, a number of zoo officials confirmed to Dawn that the elephant remained in the moat the whole night in the rain.

'We are going to hold an inquiry into the incident. If it is established that the animal was brought down into the ditch deliberately, strict disciplinary action will be taken against the guilty official,' said Mayor Sheikh Anser Aziz.

He said after hectic efforts, the animal was brought back to its enclosure.

'During inquiry everything will become clear,' Mr Aziz said, adding that CCTV cameras would be installed in the elephant enclosure.

Last year, seven nilgais died in the zoo after consuming poisonous food as determined in the autopsy reports.

Sources said there were some people who carried out such incidents to...