Tusko is a popular name given to elephants in captivity. Several notable elephants have been given this moniker.
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Formerly known as "Ned," this Tusko was a giant circus elephant captured at age 6 in Siam (now Thailand).[1] He stood just five feet high when he was unloaded from a sailing ship at New York harbor in 1898.
By 1922 he was touted as "The Meanest Elephant"[2] as well as "the largest elephant ever in captivity", though at 10-feet-2-inches tall (3.1 meters), he was seven inches shorter than Jumbo. Nonetheless, Tusko was a ton heavier than Jumbo and was the largest elephant in North America since Jumbo. The tusks which earned him his name were about seven feet long (213 centimeters).
No other circus wanted Tusko and he spent some time in an exhibition road show, accompanied by his keeper and lifelong devotee, young George "Slim" Lewis. Tusko ended his days in the Seattle Zoo, dying of a blood clot on June 10, 1933.[3]
"Tusko" was also the name of a male Indian elephant at the Oklahoma City Zoo. On August 3, 1962, researchers from the University of Oklahoma administered 297 mg of LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide) to him, which is over 1,000 times the dose typical of human recreational use. Within five minutes he collapsed to the ground and one hour and forty minutes later he died. It is believed that the LSD was the cause of his death, although some speculate that the drugs the researchers used in an attempt to revive him may have contributed to his death.[4][5][6][7]
An Asian elephant by the name "Tusko" currently resides at the Oregon Zoo in Portland, Oregon. He was born in the wild, and estimated to have been born in 1971. Tusko recently underwent two surgeries to have his tusks removed due to infection.
Tusko has also successfully mated with Rose-Tu, the at-the-time youngest elephant. On August 23, 2008, she delivered her first offspring, a male called Samudra and nicknamed Sam. She and Tusko again mated successfully in 2011, and her second calf is due late 2012. Currently there are plans for Tusko to also mate with the zoo's other two females, Shine and Chendra, as well as with Rose-Tu again when Sam is weaned. In 2011 Tusko fathered a second offspring, again with Rose-Tu. Tusko arrived at the Oregon Zoo in June 2005 on a breeding loan. He has successfully sired three calves in the past; two while living in Canada and one in California.