PORTLAND, Ore. — At a little after 10 a.m. this morning, Oregon Zoo keepers opened the back door to the old elephant barn — constructed when the zoo first moved to its current Washington Park location in 1959 — and the 13,000-pound Tusko stepped out, pausing briefly to survey the scene. The familiar east sand yard was there, but now it opened onto an entirely new vista — another yard that led to a massive new building: 32,000 square feet, with a roof reaching up to 43 feet at its highest point. It didn’t take the 44-year-old bull elephant long to decide what to do. As keepers encouraged him with some of his favorite fruits and vegetables, Tusko strode directly over to the new building and...
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