Oregon Zoo Elephant Birth Expected in Late 2012

Pachyderm
Pending
Oregon Zoo Elephant Birth
Expected in Late 2012
Information & Resource KiT
For more information, contact:
Hova Najarian at 503-220-5714 or hova.najarian@oregonzoo.org
Ian Gillingham at 503-220-2448 or ian.gillingham@oregonzoo.org

inside
A new elephant baby, a better elephant home . . . . . 3
50 years of elephant births . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Elephant babies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Zoo family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Getting to know Rose-Tu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Getting to know Samudra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Getting to know the zoo elephants . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Elephant Lands: The new elephant habitat . . . . . . . 13
Conservation in North America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Conservation in range countries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Asian elephant fact sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
See more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Contact
For more information or to schedule an interview
with Oregon Zoo staff, please contact:
Hova Najarian
Media and Public Relations Officer
503-220-5714
hova.najarian@oregonzoo.org
Ian Gillingham
Assistant Media and Public Relations Officer
503-220-2448
ian.gillingham@oregonzoo.org
About the Oregon Zoo
The zoo is a service of Metro and is dedicated to its
mission of inspiring the community to create a better
future for wildlife. Committed to conservation, the
zoo is currently working to save endangered California
condors, Oregon silverspot and Taylor’s checkerspot
butterflies, western pond turtles, Oregon spotted frogs
and Kincaid’s lupine. Other projects include studies on
black rhinos, Asian elephants, polar bears and bats.
The zoo relies in part on community support through
donations to the Oregon Zoo Foundation to undertake
these and many other animal welfare, education and
sustainability programs. For hours and rates, visit www.
oregonzoo.org or call 503-226-1561.
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A New Elephant Baby A Better Elephant Home
As Asian elephant Rose-Tu approaches her due
date, Oregon Zoo keepers are busy preparing
for the new calf’s arrival — as well as exciting
improvements to the elephants’ home habitat. Learn
more in this resource packet about the Oregon Zoo’s
elephant herd, their new roaming grounds, the zoo’s
central role in species survival and more.
Rose-Tu, an 18-year-old Asian
elephant, is expected to give birth
in late autumn 2012. She became
pregnant in late February 2011
by Tusko, the 40-year-old bull
who also sired Rose-Tu’s first calf,
Samudra. When Samudra was born in 2008, he was
the first third-generation elephant born in the United
States.
LEARN MORE:
• Rose-Tu – page 8
• Samudra – page 10
The elephants at the zoo live in
a matriarchal herd, as elephants
do in the wild. The Oregon Zoo
is poised to begin construction
in 2013 on Elephant Lands, a
visionary expansion of the elephant habitat that will
quadruple the elephants’ space and dramatically
enhance their experiences and daily routines.
LEARN MORE:
• Zoo elephant herd – page 11
• Habitat improvements – page 13
• Fast facts about elephants – page 17
The Oregon Zoo is recognized worldwide
for its successful breeding program for
Asian elephants, which has now spanned
five decades. More than 25 elephants
have been born at the zoo, beginning with
Packy in 1962. Samudra is the first thirdgeneration
elephant to be born in the United States.
LEARN MORE:
• 50 years of Oregon Zoo elephant births – page 4
• Elephant babies – page 6
The Oregon Zoo’s central role in the
Association of Zoos and Aquariums’
Species Survival Plan for Asian elephants
has earned an international reputation
for its research and commitment to
helping this endangered species. Asian elephants are
considered highly endangered in their range countries,
threatened by habitat loss and conflict with humans. The
Oregon Zoo provides support for international programs
to help elephants survive in the wild.
LEARN MORE:
• Conservation in North America – page 15
• Conservation in range countries – page 16
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50 years of elephant Births at the Oregon zoo
If there were an elephant capital of North America,
it would likely be located at the Oregon Zoo. The
zoo has been a pioneer in elephant breeding for
more than five decades, and much of its history is
intimately intertwined with elephants. Many important
zoo milestones involve these gentle yet giant creatures,
which have inspired generations of visitors while
helping scientists and researchers make important
breakthroughs — discoveries that have helped us better
understand and protect elephants around the world.
In the beginning
The story starts with an elephant named Rosy, who
arrived in Portland from Thailand in 1953. Rosy sparked
public excitement for a zoo that was then largely
outdated and overlooked, and following her arrival,
voters passed a special levy to finance construction of a
new, modern facility at the current zoo’s location — a
levy that voters had
rejected just a
few years before.
Packy
The zoo opened at
its new location in
1959. Only three
years later, the zoo
made history when
Packy was born on April 14, 1962. Packy was the first
elephant to have been born in the Western Hemisphere
in 44 years. At the time, only nine other elephants
had been born in North America. The event earned
international attention and drew more than a million
visitors to the zoo for the first time. Life magazine
covered the momentous occasion with a lengthy feature
describing the “nativity of Packy.”
elephant habitats, was a chief architect of the plan,
which coordinates breeding efforts among AZA-member
organizations across the country.
Groundbreaking discoveries
While its breeding efforts have earned it an international
reputation, the zoo has also encouraged and actively
participated in groundbreaking elephant research.
Discoveries made here have profoundly improved our
ability to understand and protect these endangered
animals. In the 1970s, researchers at the zoo learned
how to determine the estrous cycle of female elephants,
one of the most important keys to understanding
elephant breeding. And, while observing the zoo’s
elephant herd in 1984, scientist Katherine B. Payne
discovered that elephants use infrasonic communication,
producing sounds outside the range of human hearing.
Currently, the Oregon Zoo is partnering with several
North American zoos and universities to conduct a new
study of elephant welfare, one of the first major research
projects to look at positive indicators of elephants’
wellbeing — in essence, signs that an elephant is
mentally and physically fit. The zoo also continues
to track progesterone levels in its female elephants
to better understand elephant reproduction. The
progesterone information collected at the zoo is now the
largest longterm data set about elephant estrous cycles
in the world.
Leader in elephant welfare
In addition to such research, the Oregon Zoo has played
an important role in implementing the highest possible
standards of care and management for elephants.
Breeding for survival
Packy’s birth kicked off a baby boom among Oregon
Zoo elephants. Not half a year later, Rosy, the zoo’s
original elephant, gave birth to Me-Tu. Over the next
four decades, more elephants were born here than at
any other zoo in North America. When the Association
of Zoos and Aquariums created its Species Survival
Plan for elephants in 1985, the Oregon Zoo played
a central role. Mike Keele, now the zoo’s director of
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50 years of elephant Births at the Oregon zoo
Through its AZA affiliation, the zoo has hosted a variety
of conferences and events — like the first and second
North American Conferences on Elephant Foot Care and
Pathology and the fifth International Elephant Research
Symposium — that gather elephant experts from across
the country and around the globe. The zoo participates
in these events to ensure our herd benefits from the
most current management practices regarding diet,
exercise, enrichment and health care.
A new home for a growing family
When bull elephant Tusko joined the herd in 2005, the
zoo again began breeding among its elephants, adding
a new chapter to an already rich history. The Oregon Zoo
is now home to three cows, three bulls and one young
male. Five members of this tightly knit family were born
at the Oregon Zoo, and Rose-Tu has another calf on the
way. Due in late fall of 2012, the new baby isn’t the only
exciting thing in store for the elephants:
Designs for the Elephant Lands, the zoo’s new elephant
habitat, are under way, with construction scheduled to
begin in 2013. The herd’s new home (see page 13) will
include a variety of habitats and terrain and will offer
more opportunities for the elephants to make choices
about how and where they spend their time — inside or
outside, in a group or away from the herd, playing in the
water or walking through the grass.
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Elephant Babies
Sometime in late 2012, Rose-Tu will give birth to her
second baby elephant. Rose-Tu’s first calf, Samudra,
was born at the Oregon Zoo in August 2008.
If “late 2012” seems imprecise, bear in mind that an
elephant’s gestation lasts 20 to 22 months. (See
illustration.) Rose-Tu was probably impregnated by Tusko
during the third week of February 2011, so the new
baby is expected anytime from late October to late
December 2012.
Successfully bringing a baby elephant into the herd takes
a tremendous, coordinated effort between zookeepers,
the mother-to-be and the other female elephants, which
serve as the baby’s “aunties.”
Elephant keepers and veterinarians are preparing for
Rose-Tu’s birth by keeping her active — both physically
and mentally. Through daily exercise, a pregnant
elephant can stay toned and healthy, which helps
minimize the difficulty of labor. During Rose-Tu’s
pregnancy, keepers are monitoring her weight closely.
In the blood
Keepers receive much of their information from
the elephant’s blood. Using weekly blood tests,
they plot the females’ reproductive cycles so
breeding can be carefully managed. Elephants
cycle about every four months and can conceive
only in a short four-day period.
Pregnancy can be confirmed about 16 weeks
after mating by measuring hormone levels in the
blood. If progesterone levels remain elevated for
16 weeks, the elephant is confirmed pregnant. If
the elephant is not pregnant, she begins
ovulating again, which is confirmed by
progesterone levels that drop close to zero.
An infant elephant at birth usually weighs between 180
and 330 pounds with the average at about 220 pounds.
Rose-Tu weighed 180 pounds upon delivery, and
Samudra weighed 286 pounds.
Part of a family
A newborn is an important addition to the herd.
Chendra and Sung-Surin served as “aunties,” helping to
look after him. Initially, the father, Tusko, will not interact
with the baby. Eventually, he will be introduced as the
calf continues to interact with the rest of the herd.
Nursing is an important part of an infant’s growth and
development. After an expected initial weight loss in the
first week, calves should gain about 2 pounds per day. A
baby elephant can nurse for up to five years, and will
begin supplementing its mother’s milk with solid food
after 10 or 12 months. A calf learns to eat solid foods by
imitating other elephants as he gets older.
Waiting for Baby
Pygmy Rabbit: 25 days
Gorilla: 257 days
Caracal: 70-78 days
Blue whale: 360 days
Gestation
Period
4 months
Bringing up baby
When a baby is born, the mother’s instincts
should respond immediately. She may try to help
the calf to its feet (with her trunk or foot). It’s
uncommon, but not unheard of, for elephants to
actually lift the calf to its feet. In the wild, there is
a constant threat from predators. A calf that
doesn’t get to its feet quickly is at risk of being
attacked by a predator.
Giraffe: 420-468 days
Asian elephant: 640-660 days
SOURCES: Restoring the Pacific Northwest; Exploring
Mammals, Int’l Wildlife Encyclopedia; A Companion to
Biological Anthropology; Mammalogy; Biology,
Medicine, and Surgery of Elephants
S. Hess / ©Oregon Zoo
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zoo family
The new elephant baby’s ties to other Oregon Zoo
elephants will run deep. In fact, the calf will join
Samudra as the only third-generation elephant
births in the U.S.A. Explore the family tree to see how
this tightly bonded group has grown over time.
Elephants are matriarchal, so the herd’s two main
genealogical lines are indicated by their female founders,
Belle and Rosy.
PET
SUNG-SURIN (SHINE)
BELLE
PACKY
RAMA
THONGLAW
ROSY
TUSKO
SAMUDRA
HUGO
ME-TU
ROSE-TU
Sam’s new sibling is
due late fall 2012.
CHENDRA joined the herd in 1999 after she was
orphaned in Borneo; she is Sam’s favorite “auntie.”
— the Oregon Zoo elephant herd
Hugo photo by Benjamin Brink, courtesy of The Oregonian.
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getting to know Rose-tu
Playful and highly intelligent, Rose-Tu is one of the
most popular elephants in the herd. Born at the
Oregon Zoo in 1994 to Me-Tu and Hugo, she was
considered by keepers as one of the feistiest babies the
herd had produced in years — a trait she seems to have
passed on to her first calf, Samudra (see page 10).
Now 18 years old and expecting her second calf in late
2012, Rose-Tu is still playful but has also matured into
her role as the mother of the zoo’s third generation of
elephant babies.
Her birth
Although zookeepers did not expect Rose-Tu’s delivery
until October of 1994, mother Me-Tu began showing
signs of oncoming labor at the end of August. After a
three-day vigil, however, the baby still had not made its
appearance.
Zookeepers decided to induce labor with an injection of
oxytocin, a drug similar to that used to induce birth in
humans.
“Once the injection was given, the labor proceeded
quickly,” said Dennis Pate, zoo curator at the time.
“Me-Tu began bending at her knee, and a large bulge
appeared below her tail.”
Nineteen minutes later, on Aug. 31, the 180-pound calf
was born. She was the 26th elephant born at the zoo.
The baby made attempts to stand almost immediately.
After several failed attempts, she made it to her feet and
stood for 21 minutes. She was nursing within an hour
after birth.
Later that evening, Me-Tu unexpectedly gave birth to a
female twin, the first incidence of twin elephant birth in
North America. The second calf was completely still after
birth, and she died after a two-hour attempt by
veterinary staff to keep her alive. A necropsy revealed
brain damage and a collapsed lung.
The name of the Rose
By October, her original due date, more than 100,000
people had visited the rambunctious and spirited calf,
but she still didn’t have a name.
“This 175-pounder has great motor skills and is one of
the most unique calves I’ve seen,” said longtime
elephant keeper Roger Henneous. “She’s blowing
bubbles with her trunk, skipping and acting very feisty.
All she needs now is a name.”
The zoo received thousands of suggestions from the
public and whittled the choices down to five: Asha,
Koofed, Rose-Tu, Jorda or Song.
After a public vote, the calf was named Rose-Tu in honor
of her mother and grandmother, Me-Tu and Rosy.
Her first pregnancy
From 1994 to 2005, the zoo suspended its elephantbreeding
program, unable to risk the 50 percent chance
the calf would be a male. At the time, the zoo lacked
the space to house another bull elephant.
In June of 2005, the zoo received the bull elephant
Tusko on a breeding loan, and he and Rose-Tu were introduced
in the fall of 2006. Rose-Tu got along well with
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In the third week of February 2011, Rose-Tu became
pregnant for the second time by Tusko. Given Asian elephants’
20- to 22-month gestation range, her new calf
is expected in November or December 2012.
Rose-Tu has stayed in good health and will keep an active
schedule right to the day of birth. Keepers are helpgetting
to know Rose-tu
Tusko and was receptive to his advances, and later that
year she became pregnant with her first calf.
After a nearly two-year gestation and 33 hours of labor,
Rose-Tu gave birth to 286-pound Samudra on August
23, 2008. But having never seen a birth before, the firsttime
mom nearly trampled her baby. Keepers quickly
intervened, and zoo staff worked around the clock for a
week to ensure the mother-calf bond became the strong
one it is today. Since Rose-Tu has now experienced childbirth,
keepers believe she will understand better what is
happening during her second birth.
Her second pregnancy
ing by monitoring Rose-Tu’s weight — at about 7,700
pounds, she’s packed on less than 500 pounds of baby
weight — and leading her through exercises that will
help her deliver her calf safely. Rose-Tu’s daily workout
routine includes wall climb, leg kicks, abdominal lifts,
sand plows and, of course, plenty of stretching.
Zoo staff are also working to create the most peaceful
and calming environment possible for Rose-Tu, both
before and during the birth. Last spring, for instance, the
Oregon Department of Transportation agreed to temporarily
halt a repaving project on Highway 26 this winter
so the low-frequency rumble of grinders and pavers
doesn’t distress Rose-Tu during the critical final stage of
her pregnancy.
During the birth, Rose-Tu will continue to have contact
with her herd. Plans are for Sung-Surin (“Shine”),
Chendra and Samudra to have contact with Rose-Tu
throughout labor, which should help her stay calm and
encourage a safe delivery.
Rose-Tu’s Lineage
Rose-Tu’s grandmother, Rosy, was the first Asian
elephant at the Oregon Zoo.
In 1953, when Rosy was just 4 years old, the King of
Thailand presented her as a gift to U.S. official Arthur
Flegel, of Portland. Flegel then donated her to the
City of Portland, which had no money to pay her
transportation costs from Thailand.
A campaign was launched among schoolchildren,
who donated nickels and dimes to bring Rosy
overseas. She was so popular with the public that
voters later passed a levy to rebuild the zoo.
In 1962, six months after her herd-mate Belle had
given birth to Packy — the first elephant born in the
Western Hemisphere in more than 40 years — Rosy
gave birth to Me-Tu. The sire of both calves was
Thonglaw, who had been born in the wild in
Cambodia in 1947.
Me-Tu spent her entire life at the Oregon Zoo, except
for 16 months in Los Angeles on a breeding loan. She
gave birth to six calves, including Rose-Tu. She died in
1996 when the calf was 17 months old.
Rose-Tu’s father, Hugo, was acquired from Ringling
Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus in 1983. He sired
four calves before dying unexpectedly in 2003. He
was the zoo’s oldest bull elephant at the time.
Keepers described him as highly intelligent, just like
Rose-Tu.
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getting to know Samudra
Rose-Tu’s first calf, Samudra, is now 4 years old and
beginning to learn the ropes of adult life in the
herd. A healthy 286 pounds when he was born on
August 23, 2008, Samudra now tops 3,800 pounds but
is still as playful and curious as when he was a young
calf. He was the first third-generation elephant born in
the United States.
Samudra (Hindi for “lord of the ocean”) was named by
17,000 voters because of his love for baths. He had a
rocky start with Rose-Tu — the first-time mother was
confused after the birth and attempted to trample the
calf — but she soon allowed him to nurse and began
bonding with her calf. Keepers slowly introduced
“Sam” to the rest of the herd, and he is now fully
accepted by aunties Chendra and Shine. He spends most
of his days with Rose-Tu and the herd.
Life lessons
As Samudra has grown older, he has been increasingly
allowed to interact with his father, Tusko. In the past
year, the 40-year-old, 13,500-pound bull has been giving
his offspring life lessons in what it means to be a bull.
Keepers believe that seeing male behavior modeled from
an early age will have a positive effect on Samudra’s
ability to socialize with the herd as he matures.
In the past year, Tusko has been teaching Samudra
how male elephants, called bulls, interact with female
elephants. Tusko has also taught the youngster to
respect him as the dominant male of the family grouping
by, among other things, waiting to eat until after Tusko
has eaten and not facing the impressive bull directly.
Keepers hope that by learning to be a submissive male
elephant in his youth, Samudra will mature more slowly
and therefore remain with his mother and aunties for a
longer time before separating from the herd, as males
do in the wild.
Growing into a new home
Samudra will have room to grow into his new role in
the herd. Next year, the zoo will begin work on a new,
greatly expanded elephant habitat called Elephant
Lands (see page 13), which will allow bull elephants
to drift in and out of the herd as they would in the
wild, minimizing keeper-made decisions about which
elephants socialize together at any given time. In
Elephant Lands, Samudra and the other elephants will
have a greater amount of choice in
how and where they spend their
days and nights.
Big brother Sam
In the meantime, Samudra’s path to
independence will be helped along
by the arrival of his younger sibling.
Like any elder sibling, he can no
longer expect to be the center of
attention. Rose-Tu already weaned
Sam from nursing earlier this year,
so he is no longer dependent on his
mother for nutrition. As the new calf
joins Samudra in the third generation
of Oregon Zoo elephants, big brother
Sam will keep maturing and learning
his place as an Asian elephant bull.
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getting to know the Zoo elephants
The Oregon Zoo is home to seven Asian elephants: four
males and three females. Like members of a family, each
elephant has its own personality and its own story.
Samudra
See page 7.
Tusko
THE BULLS
Tusko joined the herd in 2005 on a breeding loan from
a private elephant facility in California to create greater
genetic diversity among
the zoo’s elephants.
He was born around
1971 in Southeast Asia,
possibly Thailand. Tusko
has a stocky build.
He stands 10 feet tall
at the shoulders and
weighs around 14,000
pounds — even more
than Packy. His massive
trunk is nearly 7 feet
long. Despite his name,
Tusko does not have the
long, impressive tusks
many people imagine
when they think of elephants. He broke both tusks prior
to coming to the Oregon Zoo and his left tusk became
chronically infected late in life. In the spring of 2007, he
underwent two surgeries to remove the infected tusk. Zoo
veterinarians felt it was safer to remove it than to risk a
chronic infection, which could lead to more serious health
issues.
Packy
Packy was the first elephant to be born in the Western
Hemisphere in 44 years when he arrived at the Oregon Zoo
on April 14, 1962. Until then, only nine elephants had ever
been born in North America. The son of Thonglaw and
Belle, Packy earned international attention, drawing more
than a million
visitors to the
Oregon Zoo for
the first time.
Life magazine
covered the
momentous
occasion with
a lengthy
feature
describing
“The Nativity
of Packy.” Today, Packy is the tallest Asian elephant in the
United States. He stands 10 feet 6 inches at the shoulders
and weighs about 13,500 pounds. He has sired seven
calves, including Sung-Surin (also known as Sunshine) and
Rama, who both reside at the Oregon Zoo. Packy was the
first second-generation zoo bull to breed successfully in
world history.
Rama
Though the smallest of the zoo’s three adult bulls, Rama
— at about 9,000 pounds — is undoubtedly Oregon’s
“biggest” artist. He began painting as a form of enrichment
and showed remarkable interest in the activity, leading
to his career as the zoo’s resident painter. Rama’s artistic
output, described by one critic as “abstract eruptionism,”
is regularly on display
at the zoo, and his
work has even been
exhibited at the Mark
Woolley Gallery in
Portland’s Pearl District.
His paintings are sold at
the Oregon Zoo, with
proceeds benefiting its
conservation programs.
Born April 1, 1983, at
the Oregon Zoo, Rama
is the son of the zoo’s
first elephant, Rosy, and
the famed Packy.
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getting to know the Zoo elephants
Rose-Tu
See page 6.
THE COWS
Sung-Surin
Sung-Surin is the daughter of Packy and Pet. Her name is
Thai for “sunshine,” and she is often simply called Shine.
She was born Dec. 26, 1982, at the Oregon Zoo. Rama is
her half-brother. The two elephants were born a little over
three months apart, and were close companions before
reaching breeding age. The two still socialize together
often. Sung-Surin looks a lot like her mother but shares
many characteristics with her father, Packy. Her personality
is nearly identical to his, and she also inherited Packy’s
height. She is the tallest female elephant at the zoo
and weighs about 8,000 pounds. Physically, she can be
distinguished from the other elephants by a slit in her lower
right ear.
Chendrawasih
Chendrawasih — Chendra for short — means “bird of
paradise” in Malay. Chendra arrived at the Oregon Zoo
on Nov. 20, 1999, from Malaysia, where she was born in
1993. Wildlife officials had found her — orphaned, alone
and hungry — near a palm-oil plantation on the island of
Borneo. She had wounds on her front legs and left eye,
which ultimately left her blind in that eye. Because of the
injuries and her age, Chendra was a poor candidate for
relocation and release back into the wild. It was clear she
would always be dependent on humans for her survival.
Oregon Zoo officials traveled to Malaysia and accompanied
Chendra on her journey to her new home in Portland.
Since her arrival, Chendra has benefited greatly from
being a member of the zoo herd. Elephants are very social
animals and Chendra has formed strong bonds with the
other females, especially Rose-Tu, who is close to her in
age. Chendra is the smallest elephant at the zoo, weighing
“only” around 3,500 pounds.
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elephant lands the New Elephant HABITAT
Timeline
2010-2012: Research and design, with final designs
completed by December 2012.
2013-2015: Construction will be conducted in
stages so elephants can remain at the zoo.
learned more about elephants than was known in the
previous 5,000 years. Zoos now have a much better
understanding of what it takes to protect the physical
Animal welfare
The habitat’s design prioritizes elephant comfort, health
and enjoyment by meeting the animals’ physical and
behavioral needs. Elephants will be able to participate in
a variety of enriching social interactions and make more
choices about how and where they spend their time. In
the wild, females live in matriarchal herds where multiple
generations typically remain together for life. The habitat
will provide the space needed to support such family
groups while giving bull elephants more opportunities to
interact with female herds.
Protecting wildlife
Healthy elephants aren’t the new habitat’s only goal —
its sustainable operations and visitor experience will also
help keep ecosystems healthy. The new buildings will
meet or exceed LEED silver certification standards and
include eco-friendly features like native plantings and a
geothermal loop; the loop draws on the earth’s relatively
consistent undergroundtemperature to provide heating
and cooling.
It will also inspire visitors to care about and protect
Asian elephants through
improved viewing
opportunities, engaging
informational displays and
educational experiences.
The southern portion of
the habitat includes the
Elephant Meander
outdoor habitat, Forest
Hall and Elephant Building
(barn).
In the 50 years since
Packy’s birth, we have
The expanded habitat includes the new North
Meadow Habitat, the Elephant Meander outdoor
habitat, Forest Hall and Elephant
Building (barn).
The new North Meadow Habitat: Elephant Lands’ expansive vision
quadruples the Asian elephants’ space.
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elephant lands the New Elephant HABITAT
well-being of these gentle giants and to satisfy their
social and behavioral needs.
Thanks to funding from a 2008 bond, the Oregon Zoo is
designing a new Asian elephant habitat that will put this
understanding to work and exemplify the community’s
commitment to animal welfare and sustainability. The
habitat will not only exceed standards set by the Association
of Zoos and Aquariums but also serve as a pioneering
example of exhibit design. As work progresses, the
Oregon Zoo Foundation will be seeking donor support
to augment the new habitat and ensure the zoo remains
a world leader in elephant management and care.
Elephant areas
Elephant Meadow: A broad, grassy expanse of land,
the northern habitat will be accessible to elephants from
the Elephant Meander area.
Forest Hall: For visitors, this main indoor viewing area
will offer both panoramic and up-close views of the
animals as well as a variety of educational displays. For
elephants, it will offer sand flooring, enrichment stations
and access to the outdoors — elephants will often be
able to come and go as they please.
Elephant Building: This behind-the-scenes barn will
extend from Forest Hall. Features like natural flooring
materials, spacious holding facilities and a quarantine
area with its own heating and ventilation systems will
help ensure elephant health and well-being. Taken
together, Forest Hall and the Elephant Building form one
of the largest indoor elephant facilities in North America.
Elephant Meander: The habitat’s southern portion will
have a rich landscape with mud flats, grassy hills, sandy
beaches, water activity pools and shaded resting spots.
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Conservation in north america
Species Survival Plan
and Taxon Advisory Group
The Elephant Species Survival Plan (SSP) was established
in 1985 as a cooperative program to manage the elephant
population in North American zoos. Administered
by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, the elephant
SSP’s goal is to maintain a healthy, sustainable elephant
population that is both genetically and demographically
stable by managing breeding protocols among member
zoos.
The Oregon Zoo’s director of elephant habitats, Mike
Keele, was an SSP founding member and served as
the species coordinator for the elephant SSP through
2000when it was reorganized to become a Species
Survival Plan and Taxon Advisory Group (TAG/SSP). He
served as chair of that group until 2010. The Elephant
TAG/SSP manages the North American elephant population
by recommending breeding and transfers. Additionally,
the Elephant TAG/SSP oversees population
management, reviews research and education proposals,
sets conservation priorities, and develops husbandry
manuals, which set standards based on current scientific
knowledge in the areas of diet, housing, enrichment and
care of elephants in zoos.
In addition to the SSP coordinator, two “studbook keepers”
maintain the vital records of the entire North American
population of both species (African and Asian),
including births, deaths, transfers and lineages. Keele
authored the original studbook for Asian elephants and
continues to maintain it with new information.
Using the studbook, the management group creates a
master plan that outlines the goals for the entire North
American populations of both African and Asian elephants.
It designs a “family tree” for each elephant in
order to plan breeding for maximum genetic diversity. In
addition to the recommendations about which elephants
are most important to breed, master plans include recommendations
to avoid breeding elephants that already
have many offspring and siblings in the populations.
To learn more, visit elephanttag.org.
Breeding at the Oregon Zoo
The Oregon Zoo has one of the most successful breeding
programs for captive elephants in the world. Twentyseven
Asian elephants have been born here over the
past five decades, which amounts to 17 percent of all
elephants born in North America during that period.
When Packy was born at the Oregon Zoo in 1962, he
was the first elephant to be born in the Western Hemisphere
in 44 years. The Oregon Zoo was the first zoo
to achieve second-generation breeding by producing
elephant calves from elephants born in Portland.
The zoo has pioneered Asian elephant breeding, with
important discoveries such as the length of the elephant
gestation period and how to monitor the estrous cycle
of female elephants to know when they are capable of
breeding.
The Oregon Zoo’s elephant facility is one of the major
reasons its breeding program has been so successful.
The zoo can house adult bull elephants, allowing for
normal behavior during musth, when they can be extremely
aggressive. At the same time, the facility is also
large enough to house normal social groups of female
elephants, creating a healthy breeding population.
The zoo is currently monitoring Rose-Tu, due to give
birth in late November or December 2012. Rose-Tu was
impregnated by Tusko, who arrived at the Oregon Zoo
in 2005 on breeding loan from a California elephant
facility. The zoo acquired Tusko to restart its breeding
program because its other two bulls, Rama and Packy,
are overrepresented in the gene pool and related to
Rose-Tu, making them poor candidates for breeding.
Samudra, born on Aug. 23, 2008, was the last elephant
born at the Oregon Zoo.
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Conservation in Range Countries
The Oregon Zoo provides support for international
programs to help Asian elephants survive in
the wild. Through the International Elephant
Foundation (IEF), the zoo funds projects to stop
poaching, conserve roaming habitat, and reduce the
conflicts between humans and elephants that pose the
greatest threat to Asian elephant populations.
Endangered in the wild
Asian elephants are considered highly endangered in
their range countries, threatened by habitat loss and
conflict with humans. It is estimated that only 40,000 to
50,000 remain in fragmented populations from India to
Borneo.
Once abundant throughout Southeast Asia, these
elephants are now found only in small pockets of
remaining wild habitat widely dispersed across 13
countries (see map).
Poaching of elephants for the ivory in their tusks
remains a grave problem for elephant conservation,
despite a 1989 treaty banning international ivory trade.
But the most serious threat to the remaining wild
populations comes from continued habitat loss due to
increasing human population pressures, agricultural
land conversion, replacement of forests by palm-oil
plantations, and large-scale commercial logging and
deforestation.
Illegal encroachment and forest degradation have
intensified the conflict between rural people and
elephants, sometimes even in protected areas. Many of
the elephants’ roaming pathways are now fragmented,
breaking the once wide-ranging elephant population
into smaller, more isolated groups and threatening their
survival.
Supporting survival
Through IEF and the Association of Zoos and Aquariums,
the Oregon Zoo supports a broad range of elephant
conservation efforts. In 2012 alone, the zoo is
supporting projects to:
• Innovate solutions to human-elephant
coexistence issues. In Sri Lanka, we’re introducing
palmyra palm tree barriers as a sustainable, ecofriendly
long-term tool for deterring crop-raiding
elephants.
• Conduct research to safeguard elephant health.
We’re collaborating with the National Zoo to identify
the causes of EEHV, the deadliest viral disease affecting
Asian elephants both in zoos and in the wild. We’re
also supporting research into treatments such as the
promising antiviral drug glancovir.
• Empower local communities to monitor and
protect their neighboring elephants. In Myanmar,
we’re training Chin villagers to survey elephants and
patrol for poachers. And in Sumatra, we’re employing
once-neglected captive elephants in direct field based
wildlife conservation.
• Bring awareness about elephant coexistence
to local schools. We’re working with the youngest
generation of South Indians and Sri Lankans to raise
awareness about safety around elephants and how to
coexist in harmony.
Asian elephant range map courtesy of IUCN Red List, iucnredlist.org
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asian elephant fact sheet
Scientific name
Elephas maximus
Range and habitat
Asian elephants live in Southeast Asia in a wide range
of habitats, from thick jungle to grassy plains.
Average size
Weight: 6,000-13,000 pounds
Height: 7-10 feet at the shoulder
Packy is large for an Asian elephant at about 12,500
pounds and a towering 10 feet, 6 inches.
Description
Asian elephants are stouter than their African
counterparts, with a shorter stature but heavier weight.
Asian elephants are also distinguished by rounded backs,
small ears and relatively smooth skin; African elephants
have dipped backs, large ears (shaped like the African
continent) and very wrinkly skin.
Trunks: Elephants use their trunks to communicate,
touch, eat, drink and smell. This versatile body part has
hundreds of muscles and is amazingly strong and flexible
— it can lift heavy logs or pluck a single leaf from a
tree. Elephants can even use their trunks like snorkels to
breathe underwater.
Tusks and tushes: Some male Asian elephants have
tusks, long incisors that grow up to 5 feet. Most females
and many males have tushes, which are much smaller
and lack a central nerve (unlike tusks).
Life expectancy
45 years
Diet
In the wild, these herbivores eat bamboo, fruit, leaves,
shoots and grasses. The Oregon Zoo’s elephants eat
fresh produce, hay, oats and enrichment treats like
seasonal veggies and plant clippings.
Behavior
Asian elephants are highly social animals that form
strong bonds with other herd members. Females and
calves live in multigenerational, matriarchal herds, while
adult males spend some time away from herds and some
in “bachelor” herds.
Reproduction
Males reach sexual maturity at 8-12 years and females
at 6-10 years. Females usually give birth to a single calf
after a gestation of 20-22 months. During birth, the
mother is attended by other adult females (“aunties”).
Status in the wild
Asian elephants are listed as endangered under the
U.S. Endangered Species Act, CITES Appendix I and the
IUNC’s Red List. The Association of Zoos and Aquariums
coordinates an Asian elephant Species Survival Plan,
of which the Oregon Zoo is a participant. The species
is threatened by habitat loss, poaching and fatalities
stemming from conflicts with human activities like
agriculture.
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See More
These and other images are available in high resolution format for press in a SmugMug gallery at
http://bit.ly/ElephantBirth2012.
Contact zoo media relations officer Hova Najarian at 503-220-5714 or hova.najarian@oregonzoo.org to request
additional photos and videos or to schedule an interview with zoo staff.
Web videos with footage of Rose-Tu, Samudra and the herd are available on the zoo’s YouTube channel at
youtube.com/user/oregonzoo.
Stay up to date on the Oregon Zoo’s baby elephant expected in late autumn 2012:
• Visit our website at oregonzoo.org
• Like Oregon Zoo on Facebook: www.facebook.com/oregonzoo
• Follow @OregonZoo on Twitter
• Watch our videos on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/oregonzoo
• Follow our RSS feed: http://www.oregonzoo.org/connect#rss
• Browse our Flickr photo gallery: http://www.flickr.com/groups/oregonzoo
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