Elephants at the Oregon Zoo got to crush and eat giant pumpkins to the delight of a crowd.
The Squishing of the Squash is the Oregon Zoo’s annual festive fall animal enrichment activity for the resident elephants.
“We gave our elephants some extra-large pumpkins to stomp on and chomp on,” said elephant overseer at the Oregon Zoo Steve Lefave. “First they squashed them, then they noshed them.”
The squishing dates back to 1999 when a prize-winning 828-pound pumpkin was dropped off by Hoffman’s Dairy Garden, a grower in Canby, for the elephants at the zoo.
Now, almost 30 years later, the tradition continues and attracts a crowd.
This year’s pumpkins, which included a whopping 1,000-pounder, were provided by Pacific Giant Vegetable Growers Club.
The Oregon Zoo’s newest (and possibly cutest) elephant Tula-Tu was too small to participate in the squishing this year. To make up for it, care staff gave her a small pumpkin of her own, which she kicked around for a while like an adorable soccer star.
While squishing squashes helps enrich the elephants, the Oregon Zoo also uses the opportunity to spread its message of conservation through education.
The zoo established a $1 million endowment fund to help advance conservation across all 13 counties where Asian elephants are native.
If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.