Lovelorn Indore zoo elephant likely to get a new mate soon
The lovelorn 50-year-old male elephant at Indore Zoo, Moti, whose female partner died in May last year, might no longer need to spend his days in solitude.
The lovelorn 50-year-old male elephant at Indore Zoo, Moti, whose female partner died in May last year, might no longer need to spend his days in solitude.
The zoo authorities are gearing up to start the match-making process for Moti in the upcoming Simhastha fair.
The month-long Simhastha will be held in Ujjain from April 22.
Moti’s partner, 45-year-old Champa, died due to infection in 2015. Zoo authorities feel that Simhastha will be the right place to hunt for his new bride.
“Moti is the only elephant we have in the zoo. After Champa’s death due to a heart disease, we have been continuously looking for a female mate. He is gradually showing signs of being lonely apart from being very restless. Moti and Champa had been together for 30-35 years and her death has affected him immensely,” said zoo director Uttam Yadav.
Yadav said “Simhastha witnesses participation of a large number of saints and seers along with their elephants. We are hopeful that we will be able to get him a match as finding him a mate through other ways has proved to be futile.”
There are no plans to buy an elephant as the zoo authorities are expecting that the owner would donate the female elephant. “We will approach the owners of female elephants, tell them about Moti and his loneliness and request them to donate the elephant. Many seers do donate things and in fact Moti himself is a gift given to the Indore Municipal Corporation by a baba,” Yadav added.
Moti, an Asian elephant, was earlier kept in chains for a long time after incidents of his damaging the property and even attacking the staff surfaced.
The Madhya Pradesh state High Court in April, 2013 asked the Indore zoo to free the pair of chained elephants--Moti and Champa—in either Kanha or Bandhavgarh national park. It was then decided that the animals will be kept inside a secluded zone inside the zoo premise as leaving them in the wild would be dangerous.