In memory of the world’s saddest elephant.
This post is unplanned. This post is not one I want to write. When I heard the news I was literally in tears. On May 26th 2016, Hanako, the ‘world’s loneliest’ elephant, was found by her keeper, laying on her side, dead. Her story is one of loneliness and of humanity not understanding the importance of animal life. We did not act fast enough to make her life better, and now, there is no life to make better.
If you haven’t heard about Hanako, here’s a little information….
- It is thought that since her arrival in Japan from Thailand in 1949, she had not seen another elephant once arriving in her forever home of Inokashira Zoo, Tokyo, in 1954.
- Earlier this year animal rights groups protested at the conditions she was being kept in. Elephants are extremely sociable animals and crave the security and love of others of their species. This was denied to Hanako. She was kept in the same concrete enclosure for her entire life, alone.
- Due to her importance as a gift from Thailand to Japan to symbolise peace after World War II, Hanako was held in reverence. So much so, she was denied the most basic necessity of any living creature – company.
- A petition was started in order to try and persuade the Japanese government to move Hanako to an elephant sanctuary in Thailand. However experts believed that due to her age and respiratory condition, the journey would have been too much for her.
- With that in mind, it was thought that perhaps the enclosure could be made more hospitable, with perhaps some trees and plants. It was even proposed that another species, like a dog or a cat, could be brought in to give her something to look forward to, to give her a friend.
- However, Hanako died in that ‘concrete prison’ before any of this came about. The same concrete prison she had been in for 62 years. She died as she had lived: alone.
This is how I came to find her.
As I have mentioned in previous blog posts I spent my Year Abroad in Japan, living in Saitama. This is a prefecture just on the outskirts of Tokyo, and so it was really easy to travel into for daytrips and study and such. It was so easy to commute, that we could get to any area of Tokyo within the hour really, and so we decided to try and go to as many landmarks as we possibly could.
B.B.G and I decided that, on Valentine’s Day 2015, we would go to Inokashira Zoo, as it was one of the places on our list we really wanted to go to. I won’t lie either, but the main reason I wanted to go was because I had heard about Hanako, and how she had been the first elephant in Japan. I wanted to see an actual relic of history, I wanted to see her, to make contact with her. Internally, I wanted to hear her story. I love elephants as it is, but I imagined our meeting with more fondness than most, like that of meeting an elderly lady in a nursing home, of hearing about her life and her stories and knowing you have made her happier through your listening ear. I wanted to make Hanako happy.
What we were met with was anything but happiness. Hanako was mute. She was not telling her stories, she was not comforted by the potential of a listening ear. To us it seemed as if she was trapped in a capsule of loneliness and boredom. She was ignorant of the world around her. Stimulated by nothing, she must have stood in the same position the whole 30 minutes we stood there, staring.
I hate myself for saying we ‘stared’, but there was nothing else we could do. She was in her own world, and we couldn’t reach her.
What I saw left an impact. I felt like I knew a little of what she was going through. As I have mentioned before, I felt alone in Japan. I felt alone and isolated. I felt trapped. I know it was nothing in comparison to what Hanako was going through, but nevertheless I felt an affinity with her.
Earlier in the year when I heard about the petition to get her moved to a sanctuary, or failing that, to at least spruce up her enclosure with some plants and friends, I jumped at the opportunity to sign it. I tried to convince my friends to sign it too. I think some of them did.
And then I heard the news.
I was lying in bed last week after a day at work, just scrolling through my phone, when an article popped up announcing her passing.
I was heart-broken.
Thousands of people around the world cared enough about her plight to sign the petition, yet nothing was done. Excuse after excuse was thrown by the Japanese government or committee or whoever the public were dealing with. After every idea on how to improve Hanako’s life, it was met with a resounding no.
No.
No to her freedom. No to her happiness. She was an exhibit to them, not a living being.
And now it is too late for her. Now Hanako is dead when she never truly lived.
A comment left on the article settled my tears a little though. It said that even though she was gone, she would now be with her elephant brethren, no longer alone and suffering. She was free to explore the jungles of her homeland with her dearly missed family, no longer confined by concrete.
She was beloved. I believe that Inokashira Zoo did their best for her, I truly do. I just wish their best had been better. I wish her life had been better. It really hit home when a few months later we visited Ueno Zoo in the centre of Tokyo which also houses elephants. They were completely different to Hanako, playing around, eating, and enjoying life together. I just don’t understand the difference between these elephants and her.
Hopefully your story will help other animals kept in dire conditions, and hopefully action will be taken before it is too late. Personally, I will try and do whatever I can to help those animals kept in unjust captivity, to help those that cannot help themselves. Big words, but I can try. Trying is better than nothing.
Always, Hanako, I will think of you when I am alone, and remember.
You will not be forgotten.
Always,
N.E.
The articles where I got the information from:
My Paper Lungs 