Packy the elderly bull elephant, whose birth at the Oregon Zoo in 1962 started Portland's "elephant craze", has chronic disease. Packy is plagued with cracked nails, lesions, abscesses on his right foot. Records reveal that he receives Ibuphofen & Acetaminophen for lameness & near daily attempts to manage the poor condition of his feet. Packy has recurring abcess/lesion on the left side of his head caused by lying on a concrete floor as a well as hygoma (a soft fluid-filled subcutaneous swelling over a bony prominence) on the right side of his head.
Over his life time, he has sired a number of calves and has been the object of repeated attempts to extract sperm (through rectal palpitation and use of artifical vaginas) for artificial insemination purposes.
Along with two other males at this zoo, Packy was recently diagnosed with turberculosis which, according to the Centers for Disease Control only occurs in captive elephants. The drugs used to treat his condition, may cause further pain and illness including liver disease.
He deserves as does the other 7 elephants at this zoo to be sent to elephant sanctuaries in this country which can provide hundreds of acres for them to roam. The last baby born at this zoo was sold to a circus and it is time this zoo stops housing elephants.
