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The Oregon Zoo is home to six Asian elephants: three bulls and three cows. Like members of a family, each elephant has its own personality and its own story.
THE BULLS
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 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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