
Mali, formally Vishwamali, was a female elephant found orphaned in the Sri Lankan wild and sent by Sri Lanka in 1977, at about three years old, as a gift to then Philippine First Lady Imelda Marcos. She lived at the Manila Zoo for more than four decades, much of it alone, and was often called the ‘world’s saddest elephant’. She died at the zoo on 28 November 2023, believed to be about 48–49 years old.