Her last rites were performed in the Hinauta elephant camp inside PTR late on Tuesday evening.
Bhopal: Vatsala, considered Asia’s oldest elephant, died at the age of more than 100 years in Panna Tiger Reserve (PTR) in Madhya Pradesh late on Tuesday.
Her last rites were performed in the Hinauta elephant camp inside PTR late on Tuesday evening.
“Vatsala was considered to be Asia’s oldest elephant. Her last rites were performed by officers and employees of the Panna Tiger Reserve”, an official statement said.
Popularly known among the forest staff of the PTR as ‘Vatsala Daadi (Grandma)’ for her unusual affection for baby elephants in the reserve, the centenarian female pachyderm was known to don the role of grandma during the birth of the calves, a forest officer in the PTR said on Wednesday.
Vatsala was spotted lying near Khairaiyaan rivulet in the Hinauta area of the reserve on Tuesday afternoon, the forest officer said.
All the efforts to revive her had failed and she passed away late on Tuesday, he added.
She had lost her eyesight due to old age and was unable to walk for long. She had injuries in the nails of her front legs.
“Vatsala lived a long life under the care of the forest staff and the veterinarians of PTR”, the forest officer said.
She was born in Nilambur forest in Kerala and was brought to Narmadapur in Madhya Pradesh in 1971. She was shifted to the PTR in 1993.
She was deployed in tracking tigers in the reserve for ten years before being retired in 2003.
“Vatsala had no birth records. Once her dental samples were sent to the lab to determine her age. But her age could not be determined in the test of the samples. She was considered to be more than 100 years old”, the forest officer said.
She could not enter the Guinness World Records because of lack of her birth records, PTR sources said.
Currently, Taiwan's oldest elephant, Lin Wang, also known as ‘Grandpa Lin’, is recognized by the Guinness World Records as the oldest elephant in captivity.
Lin Wang, who had served with the Chinese Expeditionary Force during World War II, died on February 26, 2003 at the age of 86.
Chief minister Mohan Yadav paid a rich tribute to Vatsla.
