Portland, Oregon – Tula-Tu, the young Asian elephant at the Oregon Zoo, is getting bigger, and so are her enrichment items.

Now weighing more than 1,300 pounds, the nearly year-and-a-half-old elephant has been given a ball designed for her growing size.

The giant ball measures four feet in diameter and is built to withstand elephant play. It is part of the zoo’s environmental enrichment program, which provides stimulating environments, objects and activities to promote animal well-being.

Steve Lefave, who oversees the zoo’s elephant care program, said Tula-Tu has displayed impressive dexterity and a playful personality from the beginning.

Last July, she showed off her footwork while playing with a watermelon. In October, she was too small to take part in the zoo’s annual Squishing of the Squash because one of the pumpkins weighed more than she did. Care staff instead gave her a smaller pumpkin, which she kicked around like a football before the main event.

For her first birthday on February 1, Tula-Tu received a new ball from the Portland Fire. She has also enjoyed playing with a 36-inch ball that had been a favorite of her mother, Rose-Tu, for 25 years.

Although she now weighs more than 1,300 pounds, Lefave noted that she still has a lot of growing ahead of her. Her mother weighs more than 7,500 pounds, while her father weighs more than 10,000 pounds.

Experts say the attention surrounding Tula-Tu helps raise awareness for Asian elephants, which are threatened by habitat loss, conflict with humans and disease. It is estimated that only 40,000 to 50,000 remain in fragmented populations from India to Borneo.

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