Lin Wang an Asian elephant at Taipei Zoo

☨ Lin Wang
Taxidermy: National Taiwan Museum, , Taiwan
ID nr:
Species: Asian elephant
Sex and age:Male ♂ 86 years old
Dead date: † 2003-02-26
Death reason: age: heart & lung failure
Location:Taipei Zoo
ArrivalTaipei Zoo 1954-00-00
from Fengshan military camp
Born:* 1917 wild Myanmar
Capture: 1943 ,
Document updated2009-01-31: Death, Text
2009-02-01: Birth country, capture date
2013-07-30: arrival year Kaohsiung
Grandpa Lin Wang, the world's oldest Asian elephant in captivity died in Taipei yesterday. He was 86.
The old pachyderm was found dead in his pen pond at the Taipei City Zoo at Mucha at 200 a.m.
"He died in dignity from extreme weakness due to old age," a zoo spokesman said.
Lin Hua-ching said the grand old elephant, brought here by former Commander-in-Chief of the Chinese Army Sun Li-jen in 1947, showed signs of frailty after the Chinese New Year holiday early this month.
Lin Wang (Forest Prosperity) started moving slowly and eating less, Lin said. The octogenarian had been lying in his pond — affectionately called the White House by zoo staff — since last Friday.
The elephant keeper said that everybody in the zoo knew the grand old daddy was dying, but was saddened by his surprise surmise.
"But," Lin said, "we found a bit of solace from Lin Wangfs dignified way of passing."
The city zoo pitched a tent near the pond to perform an autopsy on Lin Wang to find the cause of death. A postmortem report showed he died from heart-lung failures.
Lin said the zoo plans to send Lin Wang's body to a taxidermist. The skeleton will go on display after it is reconstructed.
The whole undertaking requires around NT$5 million.
"We hope local businesses will contribute to the project," Lin said.
Lin Wangfs extraordinary story began in 1943 when General Sun, while a division commander fighting in Burma during the Second World War, obtained him from Japanese prisoners of war his troops had taken.
The elephant 26 years old then. He was brought to Kaohsiung in southern Taiwan in 1947 and given to the Taipei City Zoo seven years later.
Oldest Asian Elephant Dies at Age 86 at Zoo, 2003-02-27

At the other end of the size scale, the oldest known elephant reached the ripe old age of 86. Lin Wang (—щ ) was originally from Myanmar, and was captured in 1943 by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) army from Japanese troops, then transported to Taiwan in 1947. When he was captured, Lin Wang was nicknamed "the Beautiful", but in his later years the people of Taiwan knew him as "Grandpa Lin Wang."
As his years increased, he developed arthritis in his left hind leg, and began to lose his appetite. One Wednesday morning in late February 2003, Lin Wang was found collapsed at Taipei's Muzha Zoo.
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Reference list

Koehl, D., (2020). Lin Wang, an Asian at Taipei Zoo in Taiwan. Elephant Encyclopedia, available online retrieved 31 October 2020 at https://www.elephant.se/database2.php?elephant_id=1306. (archived at the Wayback machine)

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