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If there were an elephant capital of North America, it would likely be located at the Oregon Zoo. Twenty-seven Asian elephants have been born here since 1962, establishing the zoo as one of the foremost elephant-breeding facilities in the world. The history of the zoo is intimately intertwined with its elephants. Many of the zoo’s most important milestones involve these gentle yet giant creatures, which have inspired generations of visitors while helping scientists and researchers make important breakthroughs to help understand and protect elephants everywhere.
The story starts with an elephant named Rosy, who arrived in Portland from Thailand in 1953. The first elephant ever to live in Oregon, Rosy sparked public excitement for a zoo that was then largely outdated and overlooked. 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.
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 zoos. The event earned international attention, drawing more than a million visitors to the zoo for the first time. Life magazine covered the momentous occasion with a lengthy feature describing what they called the “nativity of Packy.”
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, 25 more elephants were born at the zoo — more 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, the zoo’s deputy director, was a chief architect of the plan, which coordinates breeding efforts among AZA-member organizations across the country. He also authors the Asian elephant “studbook,” which tracks the status of every Asian elephant at AZA facilities and helps determine the best candidates for breeding.
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