Tikiri ( si, ටිකිරි) (1949 – 24 September 2019) was a female

Sri Lankan elephant The Sri Lankan elephant (''Elephas maximus maximus'') is native to Sri Lanka and one of three recognised subspecies of the Asian elephant. It is the type subspecies of the Asian elephant and was first described by Carl Linnaeus under the bi ...

and one of the oldest Asian elephants belonging to Sri Lanka. She was one of the elephants used for the

Kandy Esala Perahera The Kandy Esala Perahera (the Sri Dalada Perahara procession of Kandy) also known as The Festival of the Tooth is a festival held in July and August in Kandy, Sri Lanka. This historical procession is held annually to pay homage to the Sacred T ...

and was often forced to march at the Perahera which is annually. She was believed to be the second oldest Asian elephant from Sri Lanka after

Heiyantuduwa Raja Heiyantuduwa Raja ( Sinhala:හෙයියන්තුඩුවේ රාජා)(1924-November 6 2002) was a Sri Lankan elephant, which carried the Relic of the tooth of the Buddha casket in the Dalada Perahera for 11 years after the demise o ...

. Tikiri died on 24 September 2019 aged 70 in Kegalle after confronting with illness. During her lifetime, she was used for mainly tourists trekking and for the religious festivals. Earlier in 2019, the images of the weakened elephant posted by Save the Elephant founder Lek Chailert which featured the skeletal went viral on social media. The authorities faced criticism and backlash over the lack of compliance regarding the maintenance of the ill-fated elephant and alleged the authorities for torturing the old elephant by forcing it to march at annual Perehera festivals.

References

{{Elephants in Sri Lanka 1949 animal births 2019 animal deaths Individual elephants Individual animals in Sri Lanka Elephants in Sri Lanka

See also

References