On Friday, 27 March, India’s gift to the US, Ambika the elephant, was put down at the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington. Ambika was born in India in 1948 and happened to be the third oldest Asian elephant in North America. She was given to the US in 1961 as a present after having worked as a logging elephant in India up until 1961.
The National Zoo tweeted on the day she was euthanised, that they were to miss her dearly.
They tweeted about how “It’s impossible to quantify the millions of people she inspired to care about conservation in her 59 yrs.”
The zoo staff members were extremely close to her. One member in a video about her, said, “She’s (Ambika) family. She’s kind of the glue that holds it all together here.”
Unfortunately, Ambika was laid to rest due to her recent and irreversible decline in health. Despite having gone through treatment for osteoarthritis when she was in her late 60’s, Ambika’s condition had worsened and became untreatable after a point. Looking at her pain, the zookeepers thought it was best to put her to sleep. Twitter users also expressed their sadness over her demise.
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