The children’s favourite and the only elephant of the Lahore Zoo died at the age of 31, here on Saturday after suffering an acute pain in her legs.
Suzi, the African bush elephant, was brought to the Lahore Zoo from Belgium in 1992 when she was only six years old.
According to the zoo administration, a team of doctors from the University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (UVAS) conducted Suzi’s postmortem at Lahore Zoo to discern the cause of her death.
Zoo Director Shafqat Ali told the media that Suzi would be buried at the Lahore Zoo for three to five months for her body to decompose. After that period, it would be exhumed for its bones, added the director.
The director said that the Punjab University requested for Suzi’s skin for stuffing, while the UVAS requested for her skeleton.
Due to the shortage of funds, and the unavailability of African elephants, Suzi was brought alone to the zoo and had been living alone since 1992, despite the zoo administration receiving recommendations from the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) that stated that each zoo holding elephants must have a minimum of three females (or the space to accommodate three females), two males or three elephants of mixed gender.
Suzi was the most attractive feature of the zoo and it entertained visitors, especially children, for years. The zoo administration had stopped people from riding her back in 1999. They tried to continue the rides in 2001 but Suzi was no longer able to carry weight on her back, as told by the director.
The worldwide conservation status of the African bush elephant has been declared as an endangered species, according to the wildlife experts.