Dakshayani’s vision is failing, her eyes drooping and skin wrinkled, but she is still paraded at temple festivals by her owner, the Travancore Devasom Board.
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86-year-old Dakshayani is all set to enter the Guinness Book of World of Records as the oldest surviving Asian elephant in captivity. At a function held at the Devaswom Board here on Wednesday, Dakshayani was proclaimed with the title as she was the oldest female elephant in the world at the age of 86.
Dakshayani was originally given as a gift to the TBD by the Travancore royal family in approximately 1936, ANI reported.
According to Gopalakrishnan, Dakshyayani is taken to temples in Thiruvananthapuram district, but not outside.
Maria Jacob, an animal rights activist told NDTV’s Sneha Mary Koshy that after 65, elephants should be allowed to retire. The TDB has now the support of Universal Records Forum (URF), a Kolkata-based organisation, in its efforts to secure a Guinness Records entry for Dakshayani.
The oldest elephant that is domesticated was from Thailand which is 92 years old. The average age of Asian elephants is 60 years.
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TDB President Prayar Gopalakrishnan has said the Board had already written to the Guinness authorities in this regard.
