Inside the World of Zoo Elephants When Belle the elephant gave
birth to baby Packy at the Portland Zoo in April 1962, people
came from around the world and lined up for half a mile to see
the newborn. Lifemagazine devoted an 11-page spread to the
event. The youngster was an international sensation. As Michael
J. Berens of the Seattle Times describes it: The public seemed
to feel a unique connection to elephants, gentle giants who
exhibit many humanlike qualities. Elephants live in families,
exhibit memory and possess surprising self-awareness, such as
recognizing themselves in a mirror. They experience grief and
love, pain and fear. Little Packy was everybody’s baby, and
attendance at the Oregon Zoo soared as visitors from all over
the world waited in half-mile-long lines to see him. Cash
receipts skyrocketed, and so did donations. Belle had been sent
to Portland from Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoo as part of a
sharing agreement and it would take almost 40 years for Seattle
to produce its own baby elephant. As p