Panna: Perhaps the world’s oldest surviving elephant, hundred-year-old Vatsala is caught in clutches of old-age and has lost her vision to a cataract, along with troubles in her digestive system.
However, the elderly elephant is not left to fend for herself as the baby elephants whom she has nurtured over the years are there for her support and help her move around in Panna Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh. She was brought to the tiger reserve in 1993 from Hoshangabad.
Vatsala has also been known as the nurse and midwife as she helped deliver and nurture several young ones before they could tread into the wild.
“It’s heartening to see that several elephants which were cared and nurtured by Vatsala after birth are now taking care of her and help her walk around for smaller distances in the wild,” Panna Tiger Reserve veterinary expert Dr SK Gupta said. Experts say that the elephant will not be able to get back her vision as there is no lens available for elephants.
Bapu, born in October 2017, Manya born in 2011, Prahlad born in 2012, Krishnakali born in 2013 and Poornima born in 2015 are some of the young elephants who help Vatsala move around.
“Presently, we have a herd of 14 elephants in different age groups, including the old Vatsala. She is the most loved among the entire herd,” Dr Gupta said.
Vatsala has had a close shave twice after she was attacked by male elephant Ram Bahadur in 2003 and 2008.
According to Bal Kumar, the Mahaut of Vatsala, she was brought to the reserve in 1993 when he was a child. He says the old elephant has been a centre of attraction for tourists from Indian and abroad for over two decades now.
Vatsala belongs to the Asian species of the elephants and the life span is usually 40-50 years. She was brought from Kerala’s Nilambuj Forest Circle to jungles of Hoshangabad district of MP in 1972, while she was estimated to be aged 45-50 years, according to park keepers.
“The old age of any elephant is calculated by falling of pre-molar and molar teeth (such teeth fall when the elephant is 60-70 years old), which in Vatsala’s case happened around four decades ago. This implies that she could well be aged between 90 and 100 years, making her the oldest surviving elephant in the world. This is older than Dakshayani, a female elephant which was aged 87 in Travancore (Kerala) in 2017 and also older than Lin Wang, the male elephant that died aged 87 in Taipei in year 2003,” Dr Gupta said.
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