Pak’s lonely elephant has ‘mental illness’

Islamabad: Pakistan’s lonely elephant Kaavan, brought from Sri Lanka at the age of one, 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 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. His behaviour, including signs of distress such as bobbing his head repeatedly, demonstrates “a kind of mental illness”, said the vice-chairman of the Pakistan Wildlife Foundation. — AFP

Indo-Canadian selected for Arctic expedition            

Toronto: A 14-year-old Indo-Canadian Sikh student has been selected to take part in the prestigious “Students on Ice Arctic Expedition”. Beginning July 21, Abhayjeet Singh Sachal will travel along with a team of more than 100 high-school and university students from around the world to the eastern Canadian Arctic and western Greenland, in an expedition which will continue up to August 5. He studies in British Columbia. Students on Ice (SOI), which began nearly 16 years ago, is a foundation that educates the world’s youth about the importance of the polar regions.— IANS

Party drug as treatment for alcoholics?         

London: British scientists are recruiting volunteers to test whether ketamine, also known as the party drug “Special K”, may be helpful in reducing relapse rates among people with severe alcoholism. After pilot studies that showed ketamine combined with psychotherapy might make detoxing alcoholics less likely to relapse, the scientists are looking for 96 volunteers with severe alcohol disorder who have been “recently abstinent”. — Reuters