|
Packy (born April 14, 1962) is an Asian elephant at the Oregon Zoo (Portland Zoological Gardens at the time of his birth) in Portland, Oregon, United States. He is famous for having been the first elephant born in the Western Hemisphere in 44 years. Currently, he is the oldest male Asian elephant in North America. With a shoulder height of and overall height of more than when standing up straight,〔 Packy is also one of the tallest elephants in the United States and perhaps one of the tallest worldwide. ==History== Packy's mother, Belle, was wild-born in Thailand, around 1952. His father, Thonglaw, was born in Cambodia around 1947. Both were captured and brought to Morgan Berry, an elephant trainer in Seattle, Washington, in 1959. Belle became pregnant with Packy on July 19, 1960, at the Woodland Park Zoo. This went undiscovered for a year. Meanwhile, both 8-year-old Belle and 13-year-old Thonglaw, along with Berry's other female, 5-year-old Pet, were being transferred between Seattle and Portland every year. In December 1961, the staff at what was then the Portland Zoo confirmed Belle's pregnancy, although they decided not to tell the public until she gave birth. In January 1962, Belle went into false labor, so zoo staff decided to release the news to the public.〔 Portlanders learned of the pregnancy through an ''Oregonian'' article, and citizens eagerly anticipated the birth. Then, late at night on April 13, Belle entered labor. On April 14, 1962, at 5:58 a.m., after 21 months of pregnancy and five hours of labor, Belle gave birth to a male calf. Ten days later,〔(Getting to Know Packy ) (PDF). 2012. Oregon Zoo. Retrieved April 11, 2012.〕 following a naming contest sponsored by a local radio station, he was named "Packy".〔 The then-very-rare elephant birth received international media attention, and ''Life'' magazine devoted 11 pages to Packy in its issue of May 11, 1962.〔 Visitors from all over the world came to Portland to see the famous baby elephant. The Portland Zoo set an attendance record in 1962, of more than 1 million visitors, a figure that remained unmatched until 27 years later (1989).〔 Several circuses and zoos wanted to buy Belle and Packy, but their trainer, Morgan Berry, declined all offers, except for Portland's. After Portlanders raised enough money –$30,000 in donations〔 – and made the purchase, Berry donated Thonglaw and Pet to keep the herd intact. Meanwhile, Thonglaw had also impregnated Pet, as well as Portland's own two females, Rosy and Tuy Hoa. On October 3, 1962, Rosy gave birth to a female, named Me-Tu. On September 15 of the following year, Pet gave birth to a male called Dino, and on September 24, Tuy Hoa gave birth to a female called Hanako. Of Packy's parents, Thonglaw died on November 25, 1974 (age 27), from a drug reaction to anesthesia. He sired 14 calves besides Packy. Belle died on April 22, 1997 (age 45), of a foot infection. She did not have any other offspring. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Packy (elephant)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|