Capital’s only African elephant and a tale of captivity, solitude

Since then, Shankar has rarely even been released into his enclosure.

On Sunday, zoo administrators reached out to the forest and wildlife department of the Delhi government, seeking assistance to tranquillise him after he again come into musth.

Prolonged time spent being chained has meant that the metal has started to “bite into” the flesh of Shankar’s hind legs – only adding to his aggressive behaviour, zoo officials said.

“The animal had to be tranquilised, keeping in mind the safety of the animal, the visitors and zoo staff. He is responding well to the treatment and is healthy and conscious,” said Delhi Zoo director, Sanjeet Kumar, adding that the chains, too, have been removed and replaced by a sling and rope.

But behind Shankar’s new aggressive temperament, there is a long tale of a loneliness that transformed him from one of the most loved animals at the zoo to one of the most feared.

His early life

In 1998, Shankar arrived at Delhi Zoo as a calf along with his female companion Bombai. Both were gifted to Delhi Zoo by the Robert Mugabe-led Zimbabwe government .

Officials who worked with Shankar when he was a calf described him as energetic, and said he would often be seen running in his enclosure and responded promptly when his name was called.

Zoo officials recall their early years were marked by them chasing one another around the enclosure, with an affectionate bond between the two. ‘Despite being young calves, they were playful and caring when it came to one another,” said an official.

Shankar was named after India’s ninth president Shankar Dayal Sharma, while Bombai was named after the wife of the Zimbabwe ambassador who came to India in 1998.

However, Bombai passed away in 2001 due toa condition called Impaction colic, where the gastrointestinal system gets blocked. Now nearly 29 years old, Shankar has lived over two decades without his partner, an existence that zoo officials said has been marked with growing bouts of loneliness.

Even after Bombai’s death, he remained happy. He still had two other Indian elephants as playmates – Heera and Laxmi. Zoo officials said the trio would play in their enclosures together, even go on walks together.

“They were quite playful and in the early years, Shankar never appeared lonely. Despite Heera and Laxmi being Indian elephants, they all bonded well together,” said former zoo curator Riyaz Khan.

African elephants are much larger than their Indian counterparts – weighing around 1,000kg more on average than the Indian elephant. African elephants also have much larger fan-shaped ears, as compared to much smaller, round-shaped ears for the Indian counterparts.

Renu Singh, the first female Delhi Zoo director, who served between 2017 and 2019, said Shankar remained one of the most popular attractions during her tenure, simply due to how interactive he was. “Elephants are highly intelligent creatures. They are also very social. Shankar would turn around and respond, when we called his name. He also waved at visitors using his trunk and was fairly energetic, particularly when around the Indian elephants,” she said.

Decline in his ‘social life’

A senior zoo official, on condition of anonymity said this equation between the elephants changed slightly in 2014, when it was decided in a Central Zoo Authority (CZA) meeting that the elephants needed to be kept separately.

“Since the African elephant is an exotic species, it was decided to keep Shankar separate from the Indian elephants. This meant that while they were released in the enclosure separately, they would still continue to go on morning walks together. Zookeepers would take the trio for several rounds in the enclosure, before visitors arrived and this exercises the animals. This meant Shankar was still seeing Heera and Laxmi through the day,” the official explained.

A more recent incident in 2021, changed this equation even further.

On one of their morning walks, Shankar came into musth, attacking and injuring?? Heera. This forced them to separate the elephants even more, the zoo official cited above said.

“Since then, the elephants have not been taken on morning walks together. This practically meant its interaction with the Indian elephants reduced completely,” the official said.

Singh, the former zoo director, said that while musth is a natural phenomenon for elephants, it is important that they get social interaction and are given space to release their “aggression” on walks.

“On walks, the animal’s aggression and built-up energy is released slightly. The more an animal stays confined, the more this builds up,” she said.

A long quest to find him a partner

Over the last few years, as Shankar’s loneliness became more apparent, a group called Youth for Animals started a petition in 2021, seeking his release into a wildlife refuge or to be sent back into Africa.

But officials cited above said rehabilitation of African elephants into the wild in India is next to impossible.

In 2022, a 16-year-old activist from the group filed a petition in the Delhi high court. The court directed authorities to inspect the living conditions of the elephant, as well as look into the possibility of finding a partner – a move which has failed for multiple reasons over the last few years.

The only option they have now is to find a partner from Africa through animal exchange programmes. But even this has failed – Shankar’s aggression growing over the years has meant there are few countries willing to send their female elephant here.

Khan said finding a female African elephant and then convincing the local government to send it to India has been a difficult task, one attempted by multiple directors.

“Even if an African country is convinced to send one, there is a cost in translocating the animal to a different continent and it may not adapt. There is also the question of space and we also don’t know whether they will successfully mate or not,” he said.

Kumar said there are no female African elephants at any zoo in the country, making an exchange possible only from a zoo abroad. “In such a case, bringing large animals, especially adult African elephants from foreign zoos or establishments requires a lot of permission,” said Kumar.

India’s own laws, as part of the Wildlife Protection Act, 2022 (Amended), don’t allow for exotic animals to be released into the wild, making his rehabilitation in an Indian sanctuary impossible.

Gauri Maulekhi, an animal activist and trustee at the People for Animals (PFA), who earlier this year wrote to the Union ministry of external affairs (MEA), asking for no animal to be exchanged as part of diplomatic gifts, said loneliness has become the sad reality of Shankar. “This is an example, which teaches us no live animal exchange as a gift should happen again. We wrote to MEA three months ago, asking for the same, as the animal may have to live a very lonely life ahead,” she said.

African elephants are known to live up to 60 to 70 years in captivity, meaning Shankar still has still has more than half his life ahead of him.

It may prove to be a lonely one.