Playful pachyderm now weighs over 1,000 pounds - still small for an elephant

The Oregon Zoo elephant family enjoyed a special brunch last week: a bamboo forest, complete with snackable trees. Care staff "planted" the fresh bamboo throughout the elephants' outdoor habitat, and young Tula-Tu - along with her mom and aunties - harvested it using their trunks.

"Eating familiar foods in new ways brings out the herd's natural instinct to work together," said Steve Lefave, who oversees the zoo's elephant area. "It's especially fun for Tula-Tu, who's still learning to use her trunk."

Tula-Tu, who turned 1 last month, plucked and munched on several bamboo branches, though she's still nursing from mom Rose-Tu. Her care staff say she enjoys a variety of foods and continues to grow quickly - last week she tipped the scale at 1,030 pounds.

"A thousand pounds sounds like a lot for a toddler, but it's still small for an elephant," Lefave said. "Her mom weighs over 7,500 pounds and her dad is over 10,000, so Tula's got a lot of growing to do."

Asian elephants eat between 165 and 330 pounds each day. At the zoo, they enjoy a mix of hay, fruits, vegetables and bamboo. Bamboo for the forest was donated by the Hoyt Arboretum in honor of Tula-Tu's first birthday.

The bamboo forest is part of the Oregon Zoo's renowned environmental enrichment efforts: providing stimulating and challenging environments, objects and activities to promote animal well-being. The concept of environmental enrichment was established at the zoo more than 30 years ago. The first international animal enrichment conference was held here in 1993, producing the book Second Nature, co-edited by the zoo's former deputy conservation manager, Dr. David Shepherdson.

The Oregon Zoo is recognized worldwide for its elephant care program, which has spanned more than 60 years. It has established a $1 million endowment fund supporting Asian elephants, including the Association of Zoos and Aquariums' SAFE program to advance conservation across all 13 of the species' range countries.

Beyond direct elephant care, the zoo collaborates with local partners in Borneo to create lasting conservation solutions, from replanting forests and establishing protected corridors to fostering peaceful coexistence between elephants and communities.