80-year-old elephant Sonakali passes away at Corbett Reserve, honoured with ceremonial guard

New Delhi: An 80-year-old elephant, Sonakali, who spent years helping with wildlife conservation and tiger rescue operations, has died at Uttarakhand’s Corbett Tiger Reserve. She died on Saturday night while undergoing treatment for age-related ailments, forest officials said on Monday.

The Forest Department paid tribute to Sonakali on Sunday with a ceremonial farewell and full state honours including a salute. Corbett Tiger Reserve Director Saket Badola described her death as a major loss for the reserve, recalling her contribution to several tiger rescue missions.

Sonakali arrived at Corbett in 1997 and began her service in the Dhikala zone, where she remained until 2002. She was later deployed in Halduparao and Kalagarh between 2002 and 2016 before returning to Dhikala.

Sonakali’s years of service at Corbett

After more than two decades of service in wildlife conservation and rescue operations, Sonakali retired on January 23, 2018. Her work made her an important part of the reserve’s efforts to manage wildlife and carry out rescue operations.

Elephants typically live for around 50 to 70 years in the wild, although their lifespan can vary depending on their environment and care. Sonakali’s death at 80 marks the end of a long association with Corbett.

Mahout injured in separate elephant incident

In another elephant-related incident, an elephant brought for the Ramlila celebrations in Ramnagar, Uttar Pradesh, became aggressive on Sunday and seriously injured its mahout.

The incident took place around 10:30 am at Panchvati ground, where the caretaker identified as Chaplu had gone to feed the animal. Ramnagar police station in-charge Sanjay Mishra said the elephant lifted the mahout with its trunk and threw him to the ground. He was taken to the trauma centre at Banaras Hindu University for treatment.

A Forest Department team was called to help bring the animal under control and prevent further injuries.

Meanwhile, forest officials in Karnataka are investigating a suspected poaching case in the Maddur range of Bandipur Tiger Reserve after a snare was found in the area. The probe follows the discovery of decomposed elephant remains near Karadigallu Hill with officials examining the circumstances surrounding the case.