Just by looking at its appearance, you can feel a huge sense of loneliness...
Elephants are one of the most popular animals in zoos, but not every elephant is happy. Not long ago, Hanako, a 69-year-old elephant living at the Inokashira Zoo in Japan, died. It is the oldest elephant in Japan, living alone for many years with only four concrete walls, and is the loneliest elephant in the world.
Hanako was born in Thailand. Some elephants in Japanese zoos during World War II died of starvation, and the 2-year-old was transported over. Soon after, it was transported to the Inokashira Zoo, where it was imprisoned for many years in a concrete elephant house without green trees and land, lonely and miserable.
Elephants are swarm animals, but Hanako is unable to connect emotionally with her fellow animals, which makes her more and more irritable. In 1956, it launched an attack on humans and injured an animal caretaker. In 2011, the zoo released a report that by then, Hanako had attacked a guard, a veterinarian and a zoo employee. To prevent it from continuing to harm humans, zookeepers locked it up with a rope. Over the years, its teeth have fallen out and it has digestive problems.
When a tourist saw Hanako's current situation, he sympathized with it, believing that it stood in a cement elephant house like a lifeless sculpture. This sad photo makes people feel the loneliness in Hanako's heart.
More and more people pay attention to Hanako's situation and petition the Inokashira Zoo to send Hanako to the elephant rescue center, but the zoo refuses. A zoo spokesperson said Hanako was healthy and very happy. They work with animal welfare experts to improve Hanako's living conditions and make it more comfortable. But it all came too late.
Not long ago, the breeders found Hanako lying in a cage, they tried to make it stand up, transferred it to other places, but without success, and a few hours later, Hanako left this world. For more than 60 years, Hanako has lived alone in a cement cage, and she has never seen the land, grass, trees, or even forgotten the appearance of its kind, which is difficult for people to understand.
Hanako has left this world, but there are still too many animals like Hanako who are struggling in loneliness. The best way to help them is to ban zoos that don't have the right environment to introduce animals. If they can't be given a warm home, why should they be deprived of their freedom and let them suffer? Share it and let everyone see it.