One Of The World’s Oldest Elephant Dies

One of the oldest elephants in the world recently passed away. The elephant named Indira was in her eighties and died in the Southern part of India according to forest officials. The officials said she had been unwell for quite some time and earlier in the month had stopped eating. A veterinarian at the elephant camp in the state of Karnataka that was caring for Indira estimated her age at between 85 to 90 years old. Elephants generally have a lifespan of about 70 years.

Other old elephants

According to records the oldest elephant to have ever lived in captivity died in 2003 at the grand old age of 86. The elephant’s name was Lin Wang and he lived in a zoo in Taipei. There is another elephant in the Indian state of Kerala who is also thought to be of a similar age. Indira arrived at the Sakrebailu camp in Karnataka which is a rehabilitation and training centre for captive elephants where she has lived for nearly 50 years.

Great diet the secret

It is thought that the secret to her long life was her diet which consisted of a lot of greens. Indira stopped eating at the start of January and quickly became weak according to camp vet Dr Vinay. She died as a result of an acute inflammation of the peritoneum and following a post mortem was buried. Dr Vinay said she must have been between 85 to 90 years because usually elephants tend to lose their molars between the ages of 60 to 65 years.

Topic for study

Indira was captured in a forest back in 1968 and was used to aid in the capture and taming of wild elephants. Dr Vinay says she was extremely disciplined and very docile. Aside from greens Indira also ate paddy stock, raw rice, sugar cane and salt. Forest officials reckon her healthy diet was the secret to her longevity. Dr UV Singh a senior forest official says it is certainly a topic for study.