Updated Fri, May 27th 2016 at 13:28 GMT +3Japanese animal lovers were mourning the death of the country's oldest elephant, Hanako, on Friday, who passed away "quietly" aged 69 after triggering protests over her captivity. "She passed away quietly and calmly," Kiyoshi Nagai, head of the zoo, was quoted as saying by Japan's Kyodo news agency. According to Guinness World Records, the oldest known elephant was Lin Wang, an Asian elephant who lived until the grand old age of 86 and died in 2003 at Taipei Zoo. Mourners flocked to Tokyo's Inokashira Park Zoo to pay their respects on Friday with more than 70 condolence cards left for Hanako by well-wishers. The post, along with a photo of a sad-looking Hanako, went viral as more than 400,000 people signed the "Help Hanako" petition.

Source: Standard Digital May 27, 2016 03:30 UTC