Every year the Oregon Zoo celebrates Packy’s birthday with an “Elephantastic” celebration. This year Packy, the oldest and largest Asian elephant in the United States, turned 47 years old. Since he was born in 1962 at 225 pounds, he has grown to be 10 feet 6 inches tall at the shoulder and 14,000 pounds!
As Oregon’s state fruit, of course we were pleased to be able to provide some delicious USA Pears to help sweeten up Packy’s birthday cake!
The whole wheat cake weighed in at 40 pounds, topped with carrots, celery, and frosting, with a USA Pear filling – and everyone knows that the best part of the cake is the filling!
A huge crowd sang “Happy Birthday” to Packy as he came outside to eat his cake. As soon as he saw it, he went right to it and devoured the cake in a matter of minutes!
It was a beautiful day at the Oregon Zoo, and we can’t wait to celebrate Packy’s birthday with USA Pears again next year!