Zee Media Bureau
New Delhi: After spending 67 years in a concrete enclosure, Hanako, the world's oldest and loneliest elephant died at the age of 69 in a Japanese zoo.
Hanako, meaning 'flower child' was born in wild. In 1949, the government of Thailand gifted her to Japan where she lived alone in a small concrete enclosure at Inokashira Park Zoo, in Tokyo, since she was two, according to the telegraph reports.
She came in the limelight during a unsuccessful international campaign that demanded to release her from captivity.
As per The Telegraph reports zoo officials confirmed that Hanako was found lying on the floor on Thursday morning. Later in the day, she stopped responding to her keepers and died a short while after 3 pm.
Hanako was the star attraction of the zoo and was also very popular in childrens' books and TV shows.
Watch the story of her life here:
(Video credits: CNN)
