Bijuli Prasad, one of the world’s oldest elephants who was brought to India by a British farmer during the colonial era, died on Monday (August 21) in the northeastern state of Assam at the age of 89.
The pachyderm died of age-related difficulties, according to caretakers in Sonitpuri district, where he spent his final days. He died around 3.30 a.m. IST at The Williamson Magor Group’s Behali tea estate.
A British farmer hired Bijuli Prasad to work on a tea estate in the 1940s.
Elephant veterinarian Kushal Konwar Sarma, who cared for Bijuli Prasad in his later years, 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 it could not eat. I changed the diet and asked the caretakers to give him boiled food – mostly rice and soybeans with a high protein value, the AFP news agency quoted him as saying.
Bijuli Prasad was a symbol of pride
Animal lovers and people who knew Bijuli Prasad gathered to mourn his passing.
According to media reports, a tea garden official stated: “Bijuli Prasad was a symbol of pride for The Williamson Magor Group.”
“It was first brought to the Bargang tea estate as a calf, and later shifted here after the Bargang tea estate was sold off by the company,” the official added.
“As far as my knowledge is concerned, Bijuli Prasad was the oldest recorded domestic elephant in India,” Sarma, a Padma Shri awardee and well-known elephant surgeon, told PTI.
He claims that wild Asiatic elephants can live for 62–65 years, but domestic elephants can live for up to 80 years with good care.
According to a Behali tea estate official, the elephant was fed approximately 25 kg of food every day.
