Zoo bids final adieu to lonely African jumbo

Shankar, the beloved African elephant who spent nearly three decades at Delhi zoo, died late Wednesday evening, z00 officials said. His passing that has stirred grief and rekindled anger among those who watched his long, solitary life unfold behind bars.

- Aheli Das

Shankar, almost 30, was presented as a diplomatic gift by Zimbabwe in 1998 and named after India’s ninth president, Dr Shankar Dayal Sharma. He arrived with a companion, Bom-bai, who died in 2005.

Since then, Shankar had been the zoo's only African elephant. For more than a decade, he was kept in solitary confinement. “The elephant had been showing signs of stress, which is to be expected as it was kept alone in solitary confinement for way too long,” a 2.200 official said, requesting anonymity.