Parbati Baruah, India's first female elephant mahout and Padma Shri awardee for 2024.
- Parbati Baruah, also known as Hasti Kanya or Queen of Elephants, is a 67-year-old animal conservationist from Assam who has dedicated her life to caring for elephants.
- She belongs to a zamindar family with a centuries-old link with elephants and captured her first elephant at the age of 14.
- She became India's first woman mahout in 1972, breaking the stereotypes and barriers in a male-dominated field.
- She has contributed immensely to elephant conservation and mitigating human-elephant conflict. She has also been featured in a BBC documentary called Queen of the Elephants.
- She has been honoured with the Padma Shri award for 2024, the fourth highest civilian award in India, for her social welfare and animal welfare work.