AssetID: 52996652
Headline: An Elephant Never Forgets His Birthday! Oregon Zoo's Big Boy Samudra Turns 15
Caption: An Elephant Never Forgets His Birthday! Oregon Zoo's Big Boy Samudra Turns 15. Asian elephant Samudra turned 15 years old at the Oregon Zoo on Wednesday 23 August 2023 and it’s safe to say birthday boys don’t come much bigger. The playful pachyderm, who weighed 286 pounds at birth, now tips the scales at around 10,000 pounds. He loves playing in his pool, taking part in the Zoo’s annual Squishing of the Squash Halloween event, playing with pals, and snaffling a watermelon with his trunk. The titanic teenager not stopped growing though! Care staff expect him to put on another ton or two over the next couple decades. Arriving on 23 August 2008, Samudra was the first third-generation elephant born in the United States. He has always loved the water — his name means “ocean” in Sanskrit — and is often seen playfully splashing in the zoo’s 160,000-gallon pool. He might not be at the Zoo forever though, as at 15, Samudra is around the age where wild male elephants naturally move away from the herd they were raised in and eventually he might need the opportunity to mingle freely with a different female herd. For now though, he’s just free to enjoy himself! Happy Birthday Samudra!
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