Watch Oregon Zoo’s Birthday Tribute to Samudra the Elephant

This big boy loves water.

Juvenile Asian elephant Samudra in the pool at Elephant Lands. IMAGE: Oregon Zoo / photo by Michael Durham.

Yesterday, Samudra, the first calf of Oregon Zoo Asian elephant Rose-Tu, celebrated his 10th birthday.

To commemorate the occasion, the zoo released a YouTube compilation of the water-loving pachyderm getting wet and rowdy through the years—from rolling around in the Elephant Lands pool as a baby to getting hosed down in the mud a few years later.

The public chose his name by popular vote—it means "ocean" in Sanskrit—and couldn't have known it would be a near-perfect fit.

Samudra's birth was big news in 2008. There was a bit of a scare when she kicked and stomped on him when he arrived. Fortunately, he didn't suffer any injuries and the two ended up bonding.

"It's been exciting to watch him grow up," said Shawn Finnell, Oregon Zoo's senior elephant keeper, in a press release. "He's getting more confident as he matures, but he still has the playfulness he was born with. He's kind of like the class clown of the herd, always fun to be around."

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