Laxmi was buried in the zoo premises.Byculla zoo’s oldest animal, female elephant Laxmi, died on Thursday. It was 64 years old and died due to old age complications and a chronic heart failure, said officials.
According to zoo officials, Laxmi, while sitting in its captivity area, failed to stand up on Thursday. A crane was called in but even after several attempts, it struggled to stand up and got injured in the leg. After sometime, it stopped moving.
Director of the zoo, Dr Sanjay Tripathi, said, “It suffered chronic heart failure. Usually, elephants kept in captivity have a life span of 62 to 65 years. It will be missed, as it was the oldest animal in the zoo.”
A team of doctors from the Bombay Veterinary College conducted the postmortem and later Laxmi was buried in the zoo premises.
Laxmi was one of the main attractions of Veer Mata Jijabai Bhosale Udyan and Zoo in Byculla. It was brought from Venus Circus in 1977 in an exchange programme.