Latest news with #AnjanaSuchitaTirkey
Yahoo
6 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Asia's oldest elephant, lovingly called ‘grandma', dies at 100
A 100-year-old elephant, said to be Asia's oldest, died in a central Indian wildlife reserve on Wednesday, prompting a wave of mourning from forest officials, villagers and animal lovers. Vatsala, a tuskless female, spent the last three decades of her life in the Panna Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh state where she was affectionately referred to as Dadi, meaning grandmother, by staff and caretakers. She collapsed near a forest drain close to the Hinauta Elephant Camp on Wednesday afternoon, forest officials said. Despite efforts by veterinarians and forest rangers, Vatsala died at around 1.30pm, NDTV reported. Originally from Kerala's Nilambur Forest Division, she spent her early years transporting forest produce. Vatsala was relocated to Madhya Pradesh in 1972 and moved to Panna in 1993. She was retired from duty in 2004, but continued to play a vital role in the camp. 'She was our pride,' Panna field director Anjana Suchita Tirkey told Indian media. 'She led the herd with dignity. During deliveries, it was Vatsala who stood close, like an experienced midwife, giving strength and calm. She wasn't just the oldest – she was the soul of our elephant family.' With heavy hearts, we bid farewell to Vatsala, >100-old matriarch of Panna Tiger Reserve. Her gentle presence inspired awe in all who met her. Thank you, Vatsala, for countless rescue operations & nurturing many Elephant calves. Your legacy lives on. 🐘🙏 — Anupam Sharma, IFS (@AnupamSharmaIFS) July 8, 2025 Maniram Gond, her mahout for 30 years, told The Times of India that Vatsala never got angry. 'She was like a grandmother,' he said. 'Even in her last years, when she was fully blind, she'd lift her trunk the moment I called her name.' Vatsala never mated, Mr Gond told the daily. She survived two violent attacks in 2003 and 2008 by a male elephant named Ram Bahadur who wanted to mate with her. The first left her with torn intestines and required more than 200 stitches. She recovered after nine months of treatment. Although she had no calves of her own, staff said she acted as a natural matriarch to younger elephants in the camp, often walking beside them or comforting them during illness or deliveries. In her final years, she was blind and suffered from digestive issues. Caretakers hand-fed her porridge and helped her move around the camp. Her body was cremated at the Hinauta camp, her final home. No official Guinness World Record could be issued due to missing documentation from her early years, but forest officials estimated she was well over 100. Asian elephants typically live up to 60 years in the wild and while individuals in captivity might live longer with access to veterinary care, Vatsala's age was exceptional. Elephants, listed as an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, are protected in India under the Wildlife Protection Act. The South Asian nation is home to more than 27,000 wild elephants, representing over 50 per cent of the Asian elephant population. Their habitat is shrinking, however, and human-elephant conflict remains a major concern.
The Independent
6 days ago
- General
- The Independent
Asia's oldest elephant, lovingly called ‘grandma', dies at 100
A 100-year-old elephant, said to be Asia 's oldest, died in a central Indian wildlife reserve on Wednesday, prompting a wave of mourning from forest officials, villagers and animal lovers. Vatsala, a tuskless female, spent the last three decades of her life in the Panna Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh state where she was affectionately referred to as Dadi, meaning grandmother, by staff and caretakers. She collapsed near a forest drain close to the Hinauta Elephant Camp on Wednesday afternoon, forest officials said. Despite efforts by veterinarians and forest rangers, Vatsala died at around 1.30pm, NDTV reported. Originally from Kerala 's Nilambur Forest Division, she spent her early years transporting forest produce. Vatsala was relocated to Madhya Pradesh in 1972 and moved to Panna in 1993. She was retired from duty in 2004, but continued to play a vital role in the camp. 'She was our pride,' Panna field director Anjana Suchita Tirkey told Indian media. 'She led the herd with dignity. During deliveries, it was Vatsala who stood close, like an experienced midwife, giving strength and calm. She wasn't just the oldest – she was the soul of our elephant family.' Maniram Gond, her mahout for 30 years, told The Times of India that Vatsala never got angry. 'She was like a grandmother,' he said. 'Even in her last years, when she was fully blind, she'd lift her trunk the moment I called her name.' Vatsala never mated, Mr Gond told the daily. She survived two violent attacks in 2003 and 2008 by a male elephant named Ram Bahadur who wanted to mate with her. The first left her with torn intestines and required more than 200 stitches. She recovered after nine months of treatment. Although she had no calves of her own, staff said she acted as a natural matriarch to younger elephants in the camp, often walking beside them or comforting them during illness or deliveries. In her final years, she was blind and suffered from digestive issues. Caretakers hand-fed her porridge and helped her move around the camp. Her body was cremated at the Hinauta camp, her final home. No official Guinness World Record could be issued due to missing documentation from her early years, but forest officials estimated she was well over 100. Asian elephants typically live up to 60 years in the wild and while individuals in captivity might live longer with access to veterinary care, Vatsala's age was exceptional. Elephants, listed as an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, are protected in India under the Wildlife Protection Act. The South Asian nation is home to more than 27,000 wild elephants, representing over 50 per cent of the Asian elephant population. Their habitat is shrinking, however, and human-elephant conflict remains a major concern.
NDTV
7 days ago
- General
- NDTV
Farewell Elephant Vatsala: A Century Of Grace Ends In Panna Tiger Reserve
Panna Tiger Reserve Madhya Pradesh: In the stillness of the forest, where the chirping of birds once mingled with her measured footsteps, a void now echoes. Vatsala, the beloved matriarch of Panna Tiger Reserve, passed away on Wednesday at over 100 years old, leaving behind a profound silence, and a century of stories in the forest like poetry in motion. The tuskless female elephant took her last breath at 1:30 PM near the Hinauta Elephant Camp. She had fallen near a forest drain and, despite the efforts of the forest staff and veterinarians, she never rose again. Those who loved her, Vatsala didn't die - she simply became one with the forest. Born in Kerala's dense green folds of Nilambur Forest Division, Kerala, Vatsala spent her early years labouring silently, transporting forest produce, carrying burdens far heavier than logs. She arrived in Madhya Pradesh in 1972, already over 50, from the sun-soaked forests of Hoshangabad before moving to Panna Tiger reserve in 1993, she marched on - strong, graceful, stoic. Though she retired from duty in 2004, Vatsala remained a vital presence, becoming the "wise elder", the gentle guardian and the grandmother of the jungle. "She was our pride," says Field Director Anjana Suchita Tirkey. "She led the herd with dignity. During deliveries, it was Vatsala who stood close, like an experienced midwife, giving strength and calm. She wasn't just the oldest - she was the soul of our elephant family." As the oldest female, Vatsala naturally led the herd and nurtured the younger calves. In her later years, at 100, she was unwell and suffered from digestive issues and complete blindness, so doctors would feed her porridge, leading to her being kept at Hinauta camp. Her exact age couldn't be officially confirmed for the Guinness book of World Records due to missing documents from her 1972 capture in Kerala, and yet, for those who walked beside her, Guinness was never the point. What mattered was the life she led - and the lives she touched. Though Vatsala's life was not untouched by violence. In 2003 and 2008, she survived two violent attacks by a male elephant, Ram Bahadur. The first left her intestines torn open, the second caused deep wounds. In both cases, it was Dr. Sanjeev Kumar Gupta, wildlife veterinarian, who stitched her back - over 200 stitches in 2003, nine months of treatment, and yet, Vatsala never once showed resentment. In 2020, Vatsala went completely blind due to cataracts. Yet, she continued to walk the forest trails - gently guided by Maniram, the fodder cutter, who held her trunk like a child holds a parent's finger. Sometimes, the youngest elephants of the camp would walk beside her, offering their bodies as support. Vatsala's death is more than the loss of an animal. It is the falling of a tree that had stood watch for a century. In her passing, Panna has lost its softest trumpeting, its slowest and surest step, and its most patient soul. Tourists who once made their way through the reserve would often pause, awestruck, before the old elephant with folded ears and clouded eyes. Some bowed their heads. Some whispered thanks. Some took pictures - none captured her entirety. As word spread of Vatsala's death, the staff of the Panna Tiger Reserve, locals from nearby villages, and wildlife enthusiasts across India expressed grief. There were no loud rituals, no garlands or drums - only silence, the kind that forests understand. Her body was cremated in Hinauta, the camp that had been her final home. The place where she had once strolled like a queen now holds her memory in the wind. Vatsala leaves behind no calves of her own, but generations of elephants that walked safer because she led them. She leaves behind no records, but an unmatched record of resilience, kindness, and grace. She may never be listed in the record books. But what document could capture the weight of a hundred years of grace, of service, of quiet resilience? What paper could measure the dignity in her final, slow steps? Vatsala now rests beneath the sky she once trumpeted to. The camp that was once full of her footsteps now holds only echoes. All that will remain is the breeze rustling through the trees... and a story passed on in whispers, like an old folktale - about the elephant who lived for a century and loved like no one else. Rest well, Vatsala. The forest remembers. And always will.
