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October 19, 2022
Oregon Zoo’s Squishing of the Squash and “HOWLOWEEN”
Asian elephant
family takes
enjoys pumpkin
season
leading up to
Zoo’s annual
celebration
Some of the world’s largest
land animals demolished some
of the area’s largest pumpkins
this week. The fun took place at
last Thursday during the Oregon
Zoo’s 24th annual Squishing of
the Squash.“We’ll be giving our
elephant family some extra-large
pumpkins to stomp on and chomp
on,” said Steve Lefave, who
oversees the zoo’s Asian elephant
area. “First they destroy them,
then they enjoy them.”
The event is a lead-in to the
zoo’s annual Howloween cele-
bration presented by The Ore-
gonian/Here Is Oregon, which
takes place later this month.
Kids can show off their costumes
and learn about wildlife in a fun
and safe setting, Oct. 22– 23 and
Oct. 28–31.
The tradition dates back to
1999, when Hoffman’s Dairy
Garden of Canby dropped off a
prize-winning 828-pound pump-
The Oregon Zoo’s Asian elephant family destroys and enjoys some giant pumpkins during last year’s Squishing of the Squash. Photo by
Shervin Hess, courtesy of the Oregon Zoo.
kin for the elephant family. Farm-
ers often offered their overstock
pumpkins for use in the zoo’s
groundbreaking animal enrich-
ment efforts — enhancing ani-
mals’ well-being with stimulating
and challenging environments,
objects and activities. This year’s
pumpkins were provided by Pa-
cific Giant Vegetable Growers
Club member Larry Nelson and
his daughter, Amanda Gilmour.
Wild Asian elephants face
threats from habitat loss, conflict
with humans and disease. Only
40,000 to 50,000 of them remain,
in fragmented populations from
India to Borneo. The zoo has es-
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