Oregon Zoo’s baby elephant gets in a bind

May 29th, 2009 • Related • Filed Under

The Oregon Zoo’s star attraction got himself into a tight spot last weekend.

But Samudra, the 9-month-old Asian elephant, who got stuck between bars as he reached for bread from his keepers, is all better now.

“It was the equivalent of a child getting his hand stuck in a cookie jar,” said Linda D’Ae-Smith, a zoo spokeswoman.

The mishap occurred Sunday, when a keeper was feeding Sam bread stuffed with vitamins. The calf, who weighs more than 1,000 pounds, clambered over the top of three cables strung around the bars in the indoor viewing room. The cables were supposed to keep him safely in the enclosure, but he’s taken to climbing them and this time climbed up and over and got stuck between the bars.

Sam probably could have gotten out by himself but panicked, so his keepers intervened and helped him back into the viewing room, D’Ae-Smith said.

The zoo immediately strung a fourth cable around the bars to make sure this doesn’t happen again.

“We’re keeping him baby-proofed for a little while longer,” she said.

– Lynne Terry