Granny Dakshayani dies at 88 in Kerala Photo: Twitter
Asia’s oldest elephant Granny Dakshayani breathed her last at the age of 88 on Tuesday in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. Also known as Gaja Muthassi, she was a resident at the Chengallur Mahadeva Temple and used to take part in temple rituals and processions.
The animal lived a life of 88 years, generally captive elephants are known to have life-expectancy of just 40-plus years.
The current Guinness World Record holder for oldest elephant in captivity is Lin Wang, who died at a zoo in Taiwan at 86 in 2003, AFP reports said.
The elephant died after she became reluctant to eat anything during her last days. In order to make her eat, her captors included pineapple and carrots in her diet, according to AFP.
The addition was made to help her improve metabolism. She even had difficulty to move around due to bad eyesight.
Her veterinary surgeon told AFP about her last moments and revealed, "At 3 pm, a sudden shiver passed through her large frame beginning from the head region. After a few minutes she bent her forelimbs and lay down. And that was it."
Reportedly, the animal had stopped taking part in temple programmes since last three years. She was even moved to an elephant farm in Thiruvananthapuram so that her health could improve.
During her funeral procession, Dakshayani was dressed in traditional red robes and was draped with flowers
Former Travancore Board President Prayar Goplakrishnan told AFP why they couldn't free Dakshayani, "Due to various practical constraints, we could not let her loose, but instead ensured that she had more than enough space to move around."
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