This is Rajan. He is a 66-year-old Asian elephant brought to the Andaman Islands for logging in the 1950s. He and a small group of 10 elephants were forced to learn how to swim in the ocean to help bring the logged trees to nearby barges and then eventually swim onto the next island.
When logging became banned in 2002, Rajan was out of a job. He spent the rest of his days living out an idyllic elephant retirement on one of the islands he helped log. I photographed him and his Majout (caretaker) named Nazroo who had been together for 30yrs and documented Rajan spending time sunbathing on the beach, swimming in the ocean and foraging in the forest. Rajan was the last of the group to survive until his death in 2016. He was truly the last of his kind.
This image is from the artist series "The Last of His Kind”.
An award-winning photographer, Jody MacDonald is no stranger to adventure and exploration in the last untamed corners of the planet.
Follow Jody MacDonald on Instagram @jodymacdonaldphoto
