Oregon Zoo elephant celebrates Sweet 16

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) -- Samudra, an Asian elephant at the Oregon Zoo, turned sweet 16 on Friday.

Born on Aug. 23, 2008, Samudra was the first third-generation elephant born in the United States. Weighing 286 pounds at birth, the zoo says he has now grown to around 10,000 pounds.

What's more, they expect he'll put on another ton or two in the next couple of decades.

“It’s incredible to see how big he’s grown,” said Steve Lefave, who oversees the zoo’s elephant area. “He’s still got that playfulness he’s had ever since he was little though. Watching the way he splashes around in the pool, you’d think he was 6 instead of 16.” 

Samudra is often seen splashing in the 160,000-gallon pool at Elephant Lands, which is fitting, since his name means “ocean” in Sanskrit.

According to Lefave, Samudra is in the age range where male elephants naturally move away from the herd they were raised in. As a result, he may need to mingle with a different female herd.

“In the wild, male elephants will join new female herds from time to time during courtship, and sometimes they form bachelor groups with other young males,” he said. “We want Samudra to have those kinds of opportunities, too,The when the time is right.”