For newer staff, she was a living connection to an earlier era of conservation.
For older employees, she was a reminder of years spent working together.
The Final Years
As Mohanmala grew older, her health inevitably declined.
The exact year of her birth was uncertain, which is why contemporary reports gave different estimates of her age.
Some reports placed her around 80.
Others estimated that she was closer to 85 or even 90.
What was not disputed was that she had reached an advanced age and had become one of the oldest departmental elephants associated with Kaziranga.
By 2025, age-related health problems had severely weakened her.
Veterinary care was provided, but eventually her long life came to an end.
On August 14, 2025, Mohanmala died at Kaziranga.
She had been connected with the park for more than 55 years.
Forest personnel gathered to say goodbye.
Her last rites were held at Mihimukh in Kaziranga's central range.
Senior forest officials, frontline personnel and her mahout were among those who paid tribute.
The language used by park authorities following her death revealed how they viewed her.
Mohanmala was remembered not merely as an animal that had belonged to the Forest Department.
Kaziranga described the loss in much more personal terms.
She had been a trusted colleague.
A flood-time saviour.
A symbol of loyalty and courage.
A Life Intertwined With Kaziranga
Mohanmala's story is powerful partly because it reflects a form of conservation work that often receives little attention.
When people think about wildlife conservation, they may imagine scientists tracking animals, veterinarians treating injured wildlife or armed guards stopping poachers.
All of those roles matter.
But conservation in places such as Kaziranga has historically depended on a much wider network.
Mahouts.
Forest guards.
Local communities.
Veterinary teams.
Administrators.
And working elephants.
Mohanmala belonged to that network.
Her contributions were practical.
She transported people.
She crossed water.
She entered difficult terrain.
She helped patrol.
She supported anti-poaching work.
During emergencies, she provided a means of transportation when other options failed.
None of those tasks sounds glamorous when written in an official record.
Together, however, they formed decades of service.
The Landscape She Helped Protect
Today, Kaziranga is recognized around the world.
UNESCO identifies it as one of the last relatively undisturbed areas of the eastern Himalaya region and an important habitat for numerous threatened species.
Its greater one-horned rhinoceroses are its most famous residents.
But the park also supports wild Asian elephants, tigers, wild water buffalo, swamp deer and an extraordinary diversity of other wildlife.
Mohanmala spent decades moving through that world.
She walked through grasslands that could tower over people.
She crossed wetlands.
She moved through forests.
She experienced monsoon after monsoon.
She saw floodwater transform familiar ground into vast temporary lakes.
And when people responsible for protecting that landscape needed help reaching difficult places, she was there.