Rama the Painting Elephant

As the youngest son of the Oregon Zoo’s most prestigious pachyderms, Packy and Rosy, Rama was destined for fame. Born April 1, 1983, Rama inherited an endearing and friendly personality from mother Rosy. Of the three bulls at the zoo, Rama remains the smallest, weighing roughly 9,000 pounds.

Rama began painting as a form of enrichment and showed remarkable interest in the activity, leading to his career as Oregon’s “biggest” artist. Highly intelligent, Rama has even learned how to paint with just his trunk. The idea was born from a routine health test in which elephants take saline solution into their trunks and expel it into a sterile bag. When painting, a nontoxic tempera paint — the same egg-based stuff that kindergarteners paint with (or eat!) — is loaded into Rama’s trunk and, on cue, Rama takes a breath and blasts the paint from his trunk onto the awaiting canvas. The effect is what one art critic describes as “abstract eruptionism.”

After washing his trunk of paint in a nearby bucket of water, Rama waits anxiously, reaching out with his trunk as Jeb, his trainer, loads a brush with more paint. Given the brush, Rama begins to finish his art project. When Jeb signals the elephant to shake his head, Rama generously spreads the paint around. Although to Rama, the canvas is interesting while he is working on it, the resulting paintings have taken on a life of their own.

Rama’s paintings are sold at the Oregon Zoo, with proceeds benefiting its conservation programs.