Elderly Asian elephant euthanized after suffering from health complications

The Smithsonian's National Zoo community in Washington recently announced that they were forced to put down a beloved member of its Asian elephant herd. Ambika was a 72- year old India Elephant and was humanely euthanized on March 27 after suffering from a recent and irreversible decline in her health. She was born in India in the year 1948.

Third oldest Asian elephant put down

According to reports, Ambika was the third oldest Asian elephant in the North American population, at the age of 8 she was captured in the Coorg forest where she worked as a logging elephant until 1961. After that, she was given to Smithsonian's National Zoo as a gift. Indian Ambassador to the United States Taranjit Singh Sandhu tweeted after the news broke out and wished her peace.

As per reports, last week zookeepers noticed that Ambika’s right front leg which bore the brunt of her weight had developed an unnatural curve that made it hard for her to stand. Coupled with the fact that Ambika chose not to explore her habitat as much as she normally would or engage with her keepers or elephant companions, Shanthi and Bozie, the staff at the zoo grew increasingly concerned.

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After a full examination of Ambika that took into account her gait, blood-work parameters, radiographs, progressions of her lesions and her tendency to occasionally isolate from Shanthi and Bozie, the veterinary team felt that they had exhausted all treatment options and made the decision to humanely euthanise her.

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Female Asian Elephants in human care, like Ambika, typically live into their mid-40s. According to reports, there is just not enough data on Asian elephants to accurately determine their lifespan. During her time at the zoo, Ambika had been an integral part of the Zoo’s campaign to save Asian Elephants from extinction. She had also been a favourite among the zoo’s countless visitors.

(Representative image)(Image Credit Pixabay)