An elephant icon believed to be India’s oldest domestic Asiatic elephant has died in India aged 89.
Revered Bijuli Prasad died suddenly of old age at Behalli tea estate in Sonitpur, Assam State, on Monday, 21st August.
The majestic tusker was originally caught in the wild as a calf and put to work in tea plantations by a British farmer who sold him to the Williamson estate in the 1940s.
Vet Kushal Konwar Sarma – who monitored the elephant’s health – said: “Domestic elephants live up to 80 years, provided they are taken care of well.
“All the teeth of the elephant fell out due to age and he could not eat.
“I changed the diet and asked the caretakers to give him boiled food – mostly rice and soybean with a high protein value.”
Sarma added: “As far as my knowledge is concerned, Bijuli Prasad was the oldest recorded domestic elephant in India.”
Bijuli was so honoured he lived a luxurious retirement and was put on a salary by his plantation owners, covering his keeper’s wages, his food and his me
Heartbroken fans flocked to the district to mourn the four-tonne tusker’s death.
Plantation official Rajit Baruah said Bijuli consumed about 25 kilos (55 lbs) of food each day.
Baruah said: “Every day, we required 25 kilogrammes of rice, along with equal portions of maize, grams, and molasses to feed Bijuli.
“Additionally, truckloads of plantain trunks were gathered for the elephant’s consumption.
“Bijuli Prasad was a symbol of pride for The Williamson Magor Group.”
The title ‘oldest elephant in India and Asia’ was previously held by an 88-year-old captive elephant named Dakshayani from the state of Kerala.
Reports say northeastern India is home to more than 10,000 wild elephants, nearly a quarter of the total Asian Elephant population.
The species is listed as ‘endangered’ on IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species.
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Story By: Georgina Jedikovska, Sub-Editor: Marija Stojkoska, Agency: Central European News
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