Bhunte heard from his aunts that Packy uncle died in the Oregon Zoo. Though in the other part of the earth and though he never met Packy uncle- everyone in his herd told him that he looked like Bhunte when Packy was a new born calf. Packy (April 14, 1962 – February 9, 2017) was the first elephant born in the western hemisphere in 44 years. What saddened Bhunte more, was Packy’s death! Packy got euthanized as his body did not respond to the medication against deadly tuberculosis. Like Packy, many captive elephants face this fate and die in captivity because of severe diseases- one of them being tuberculosis. Captivating animals, be it elephants or others, comes with costs. A cost of understanding their ecology, welfare and managing them to make them feel like they are in the wild! Bhunte pays homage to his soul! 

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Packy, as a calf, at Oregon Zoo (Photo credit: http://www.oregonzoo.org)