After Helping the World's Loneliest Elephant, Cher Hopes to Free Gorilla Living Above Thai Mall

Photo: Taylor Weidman/Getty. Inset: Mike Marsland/WireImage

When it comes to animal welfare, Cher doesn’t rest.

At the end of November, the 74-year-old singerhelped the “world’s loneliest elephant,"– a pachyderm named Kaavan, who had been living alone in a Pakistani zoo for years – find a new home where he has space to roam and elephants to befriend.

Now that Kaavan is settling into his new sanctuary home –and already meeting new friends– Cher is turning her attention to Bua Noi, according toThe Guardian.

FOUR PAWS/Hristo Vladev

Bua Noi is a female gorilla that was brought to Thailand in 1988, and has spent most of her time since stuck in an enclosure at the Pata Zoo, a facility located at the top of a mall in Bangkok.

Cher recently wrote a letter to Thailand’s environment minister, Varawut Silpa-archa, in which she expressed her concerns over the conditions Bua Noi endures at the zoo, which reportedly include a small cage, little mental stimulation, and inadequate access to the outdoors.

In the letter, according toThe Guardian, Cher also offered to arrange and pay for the safe transport of Bua Noi from the zoo to a sanctuary in the Congo through Free the Wild, the charity Cher co-founded to help neglected, captive animals find new homes in sanctuaries and respected zoos. Cher also asked to transport the zoo’s orangutans, gibbon, and bonobo to theWildlife Friends Foundation of Thailand.

According toSky News,Silpa-archa replied to the letter, saying that plans are already in motion to move some of the zoo’s animals.

“Please be informed that the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has never forgotten or ignored Bua Noi. I, myself as minister in charge of wildlife conservation, have given instruction to the relevant agencies in order to find the best solution for a better life of Bua Noi,” he wrote, per the outlet.

Taylor Weidman/Getty

In a statement to Sky News, the director of Pata Zoo, Kanit Sermsirimongkol, rejected claims that Bua Noi and the other animals under his care are mistreated.

In the same statement, Sermsirimongkol also invited Cher to Pata Zoo to “see how well we look after the gorilla with love and care.”

source: people.com