The world's most lonely old elephant dies before being free

Hanako, the oldest elephant in Japan, died at the age of 69 despite the international community's campaign to free it from Inokashira zoo.

Hanako in a concrete barn in Inokashira Zoo, Japan.(Photo: Flickr).

According to the Mirror, Hanako was noticed by the international community after a tourist named Ulara Nakagawa recorded the scene of an elephant suffering severe depression at Inokashira Zoo in Tokyo's suburbs last year.

Nakagawa described Hanako's captivity as a " concrete prison inside one of the oldest and cruel zoos in the modern world" . Nakagawa organized a signature collection on a petition calling for Hanako's release, but the zoo management board said the elephant was too old to release and other elephants would shun it.

Although the petition was nearly 500,000 signatures on demand, Hanako the old elephant could not wait until she was free and died on the afternoon of May 26.

Hanako elephant was given to Thailand by Inokashira zoo when it was two years old. During the next six decades, Hanako lived alone in a concrete barn without trees.