Lily, a one-and-a-half-year-old Asian Elephant, enjoyed some splash time with the entire herd this week at the Oregon Zoo.

Photo Credit:  Shervin Hess

The Oregon Zoo’s Elephant herd includes Lily, her mother Rose-Tu, her father Tusko, brother Samudra, adult males Rama and Packy, and adult females Chendra and Sung-Surin.

Elephants regularly enter lakes and rivers to drink, bathe, and play.  Elephants are also good swimmers!  They paddle with their legs and use their trunks as snorkels.  Elephants are rarely far from fresh water, and drink up to 50 gallons of water a day.

Asian Elephants are listed as Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.  Once ranging across Southeast Asia, their habitat is now fragmented due to extensive development for agriculture and a growing human population.