A statue of Nellie the elephant now stands at Mitchell Park Zoo, unveiled recently as a birthday gift for Dhunniram Moolchun. The 99-year-old trustee, who has provided support to the establishment for decades, has carried memories of the famous elephant since boyhood.
Moolchun was elected as a trustee in 1997. He says the role "ignited" his thoughts about Nellie, the elephant who had captured the hearts of generations. Over the years, he suggested the trustees acquire another elephant, but the park was too small. He then proposed a mechanical elephant, but the R1 million cost could not be met by the trustees.
To honour his father's longing for a return to the heyday of Nellie, his son Subash decided to surprise him for his 99th birthday with the statue of Nellie.
"I was absolutely surprised when my son Subash told me that in my honour he bought an immobile elephant which will be donated to the management of Mitchell Park," Moolchun said. "Indeed it is a great surprise and honour."
Born in 1927, Moolchun was about ten years old when he first met Nellie and rode her. Describing the experience, he said, "Having a ride on Nellie was smooth and jolly, unlike galloping a horse."
"As a young lad of nine or ten years, my friends and I over weekends and school holidays went to Mitchell Park complex not only to admire the beautiful flowers but mainly to see Nellie the elephant giving rides to children and adults. Above all to watch Nellie playing the mouth organ and also opening the tap to drink water," he recalled.
Current trustee and vet Dr Sanil Singh reiterated a famous rumour that over 20,000 people once attended Nellie's birthday celebrations.
"Nellie was very friendly. Stories abound about her cracking coconuts with her legs, playing football with the coconuts and even her weekly trips to the Durban Indian Market where she would collect fruits and vegetables for the other animals to eat," said Singh.
Nellie was originally presented as a gift to the park by the Maharaja of Mysore.
"Nobody knows the reason for the gift or which Maharaja it was. But through my research, I found that the Maharaja of Mysore at the time was Krishna Raja Wadiyar," said Singh.
Singh explained that the gift was done through the founder of Sastri College in Durban, the Right Honourable Srinivasa Sastri. Sastri came to South Africa in 1926 as part of a delegation to hold talks with the South African government on the issue of repatriation of Indians. "As an agent, he presented Nellie the elephant to the park."
As Nellie grew too large for the small park, Singh said that in 1949 she was shipped to Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Australia. According to Donal P McCracken's book, In the Steps of Nellie, "Restricted to an enclosure with less frequent human company than she had previously enjoyed, one day on reaching across the pit which divided her from humanity, she fell into the ditch and broke her back. She was put to sleep."
"But her memory will live on," said Moolchun. "We loved her. There is no doubt that Nellie made Mitchell Park famous by attracting thousands of local visitors and tourists, and I hope that this statue will do the same."