Lin Wang (林旺), Taipei City Zoo's star elephant, decorated World War II veteran and the world's oldest Asian elephant in captivity, died early yesterday morning at the zoo at the grand old age of 86.
"Lin Wang was found dead by his pool at 2:30am yesterday. He died with dignity from extreme weakness due to old age," said Lin Hua-ching (林華慶), a city zoo section chief.
An autopsy later determined that he died from cardiopulmonary failure.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Lin Wang showed signs of frailty after the Lunar New Year holiday early this month, moving slowly and eating less.
The zookeeper said the elephant had been observed spending unusually long periods of time in the pool by his enclosure, known as the White House, since last Friday.
"Though we knew his health was deteriorating, we're still surprised that he has died so soon. But we take solace from the dignified way in which he died -- the fact that he didn't experience a lot of pain," Lin said.
The zoo plans to have the body of the pachyderm stuffed and displayed at the zoo, together with a reconstruction of his skeleton, an undertaking that will require around NT$5 million.
"We hope local businesses will donate the necessary funds for the project," Lin said.
The octogenarian had lived in Taiwan for more than five decades. Known as "Granddaddy Lin Wang," the elephant was an icon to many Taiwanese, young and old.
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday sent wreathes to the zoo yesterday, bearing the inscription, "For Lin Wang, a friend forever."
Taipei City Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said: "The average life expectancy of Asian elephants is 50 years. Lin Wang had exceeded that period by so long that he had become an icon to four generations of people in Taiwan. When I was a child, my parents took me to see Lin Wang at the zoo. When I became a father, I took my daughters to see him. We watched him grow old, but he also accompanied us as we grew up."
Ma said the city government had originally planned to allow the nation's students and children to visit the zoo for free to wish the elephant well for three days starting Friday, knowing that he was weakening.
The activity will still proceed as planned, but for the purposes of conveying condolences.
"We didn't expect him to die so soon. But the activity will go ahead as scheduled," Ma said.
Lin Wang's extraordinary story began in 1943 when the ROC military acquired the elephant from Japanese prisoners of war in Burma during World War II. At the time, Lin Wang was about 26 years old.
He was used for carrying military supplies during the war and was honored later for his contributions to the war effort.
In 1947, he was transported to Kaohsiung and was transferred to Taipei City Zoo in 1954, where he lived with his long-term companion Malan.
Malan died last October at the age of 54 due to a malignant tumor on her foot.
LONG FLIGHT: The jets would be flown by US pilots, with Taiwanese copilots in the two-seat F-16D variant to help familiarize them with the aircraft, the source said The US is expected to fly 10 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70/72 jets to Taiwan over the coming months to fulfill a long-awaited order of 66 aircraft, a defense official said yesterday. Word that the first batch of the jets would be delivered soon was welcome news to Taiwan, which has become concerned about delays in the delivery of US arms amid rising military tensions with China. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the initial tranche of the nation’s F-16s are rolling off assembly lines in the US and would be flown under their own power to Taiwan by way
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
MISSION: The Indo-Pacific region is ‘the priority theater,’ where the task of deterrence extends across the entire region, including Taiwan, the US Pacific Fleet commander said The US Navy’s “mission of deterrence” in the Indo-Pacific theater applies to Taiwan, Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Stephen Koehler told the South China Sea Conference on Tuesday. The conference, organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), is an international platform for senior officials and experts from countries with security interests in the region. “The Pacific Fleet’s mission is to deter aggression across the Western Pacific, together with our allies and partners, and to prevail in combat if necessary, Koehler said in the event’s keynote speech. “That mission of deterrence applies regionwide — including the South China Sea and Taiwan,” he
UNPRECEDENTED: In addition to the approved recall motions, cases such as Ma Wen-chun’s in Nantou are still under review, while others lack enough signatures The Central Election Commission (CEC) announced yesterday that a recall vote would take place on July 26, after it approved the first batch of recall motions targeting 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao (高虹安). Taiwan is in the midst of an unprecedented wave of mass recall campaigns, following a civil society push that echoed a call made by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) in January to initiate signature drives aimed at unseating KMT legislators. Under the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法), Taiwanese can initiate a recall of district-elected lawmakers by collecting