Portland lost a big part of its civic history, when the elephant Packy was euthanized at age 54 after a long battle with tuberculosis. From his very first breath, Packy made history. Here’s a look at key dates in his long, illustrious life.
April 14, 1962 – Packy is born at 5:58 a.m. He is the first elephant born in the United States in 44 years and only the ninth since the first one came to America in 1796. The 225-pound infant’s parents were Thonglaw and Belle, both wild-born elephants. Thonglaw went on to father a total of 15 babies at the zoo. Zoo attendance topped 1 million that year.
April 14, 1963 – At Packy’s first birthday party, he weighs in at 1,750 pounds, more than his father did at 3 years of age in the Cambodian wild. Thonglaw eventually weighed 12,000 pounds and stood 9 feet, 10 inches tall – statistics easily beaten by his son, who in 2002 weighed 13,500 pounds and stood 10.5 feet tall.
Oct.10, 1963-Aug.9, 1966 – During this four-year period, five more baby elephants are born at the zoo – Me-Tu, Dino, Hanako, Noel and Rajah. Together with the now famous Packy, the births put Portland on the map as the “Elephant Capital of the World.”
Aug. 10, 1966 – With the birth of Rajah the day before, Portlanders had become almost blase about its baby elephants. A tongue-in-cheek Page 1 story in The Oregonian had the following lead: “Ho, hum! Another dull day at the Portland Zoo. Just another baby elephant, that’s all.”
Throughout the 1970s – Through working with Packy, the Oregon Zoo is the first to discover and document the 16-week estrus cycle in female Asian elephants, which is crucial information for breeding these endangered animals. This was also important knowledge for research and for the eventual success of artificial insemination.
April 14, 1972 – Packy celebrates his 10th birthday.
May 10, 1975 – Packy sires his first baby, a male calf born to Me-Tu. The birth is a world’s first from second-generation, zoo-born parents.
Feb. 17, 1976 – A second female calf was born to Hanako and Packy.
March 15, 1978 – Another female calf, Sumek, was born to Hanako and Packy.
May 19, 1978 – Khun Chorn, a bustling male calf, is born to Me-Tu and Packy. In 1980, Khun Chorn is moved to the Dickerson Zoo Park in Springfield, Mo.
Oct. 10, 1979 – Thongtri was born to Rosy and Packy.
1980 – The zoo’s new elephant yard and visitor overlook opens, more than doubling the space available for the zoo’s prized elephant herd. Packy especially likes it because it gave him a chance to roam about. A key feature to the herd’s new playground was a hydraulic chute, which can hold Packy and the other elephants immobile while their toenails are trimmed or medication is administered. The hydraulic chute was the first of its kind in the western world and allowed for the safe care and handling of large male elephants.
April 14, 1982 – Packy celebrates his 20th birthday.
July 1982 – Packy is featured on the cover of Science Magazine after the Oregon Zoo discovers Flehman-like response in Asian elephants. The response enables males to determine if females are in estrus. This is common in many mammals, but it was first observed and documented with Asian elephants in Portland.
July 27, 1982 – The first known attempt to use artificial insemination with Asian elephants is attempted by Dr. Michael Schmidt, the zoo’s veterinarian.
Dec. 26, 1982 – A baby girl, Sung-Surin, is born to Pet and Packy.
Apr. 1, 1983 – The last of Packy’s children, Rama, is born to Rosy and Packy.
1983 – Based upon years of Oregon Zoo research in the 1970s, Dr. Michael Schmidt and colleagues publish “Reproduction of Asian Elephants,” which outlines the zoo’s discovery of the estrus cycle of Asian elephant females.
1985 – Noted elephant researcher Katherine Payne spends a week living with Oregon Zoo’s Asian elephants and discovers that elephants communicate through infrasonic vocalizations. When elephant recordings were played at normal speed, only common sounds, such as the elephants flapping their ears and wheezing, were heard. However when the tapes were speeded up 10 times – raising the pitch of any noises too low to be heard at normal speed – two distinct elephant voices could be heard. Payne’s discovery opened the door to a whole new realm of animal communication. She is seeking to learn how these vocalizations may help elephants maintain their elaborate societies.
Thousands of Packy fans came to celebrate the 40th birthday of the Oregon Zoo’s most celebrated elephant on Feb. 14, 2002. Packy politely plucked the carrot and celery stick candles from the cake.Marv Bondarowicz, The Oregonian/OregonLive
Apr. 14, 1992 – Packy celebrates his 30th birthday.
Apr. 14, 2002 – Packy celebrates his 40th birthday, and more than 6,750 guests watch the big guy tackle a 35-pound cake made of bananas, sweet potatoes, celery, carrots, peanut butter and bread – all some of his favorite delicacies.
2008 – Voters pass a bond measure that gives the Oregon Zoo $125 million to improve zoo exhibits, including the eventual expansion of the expands the elephants’ space from 1.5-acres to six.
April 14, 2012 – Packy turns 50, and about 12,000 people attend to honor the pachyderm’s golden birthday.
2013 – In May, the Oregon Zoo encounters its first case of tuberculosis in elephants, when a test on Packy’s son Rama is positive. That December, Packy tests positive, followed by another herd elephant Tusko in June 2014. The three elephants are put on a months-long round of treatment.
June 10, 2013 – Construction begins on Elephant Lands, a $53 million expansion of the Oregon Zoo’s elephant exhibit.
March 30, 2015 – Rama is euthanized. Although he had recently completed treatment for tuberculosis, trainers determined he was suffering too much from a decades-old leg injury.
June, 2015 – The Oregon Zoo’s elephants move into the newly completed Elephant Lands exhibit, and demolition begins on the Eisenhower-era elephant barn.
Dec. 21, 2015 – Tusko is euthanized after suffering from long-standing foot injuries that limited his mobility. Tusko had successfully undergone an 18-month treatment for tuberculosis, and had been reintroduced to the herd before his death.
Dec. 3, 2016 – Zoo officials announce that Packy is suffering a resurgence of his tuberculosis after being free of the disease for almost two years. Veterinarians decide to discontinue treatment as his particular strain appears resistant to antibiotics.
Feb. 9, 2017 – Packy is euthanized after veterinarians exhaust methods of treating his tuberculosis.
(Compiled from The Oregonian/OregonLive reports)
— Grant Butler
gbutler@oregonian.com
503-221-8566; @grantbutler
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