Ruby

Ruby (1973 - 1998) was a 4.5 ton Asian elephant that lived at the Phoenix Zoo and was famous for creating paintings. Ruby was born in Thailand, probably in the summer of 1973, and was shipped to the Phoenix Zoo in February of 1974. Her painting career began when her keepers saw her scratching in the dirt of her enclosure with a stick, and offered her a brush and paints. In time, she was moved into the main enclosure with the zoo's two other eleph... more

Ruby (1973 - 1998) was a 4.5 ton Asian elephant that lived at the Phoenix Zoo and was famous for creating paintings. Ruby was born in Thailand, probably in the summer of 1973, and was shipped to the Phoenix Zoo in February of 1974. Her painting career began when her keepers saw her scratching in the dirt of her enclosure with a stick, and offered her a brush and paints. In time, she was moved into the main enclosure with the zoo's two other elephants, both African. African and Asian Elephants are of different species, and Ruby did not get along with the other two. The decision was made to breed her, to provide her with companionship. At the age of twenty, Ruby was shipped to the Tulsa Zoo to mate with a male elephant named Sneezy and lived in Tulsa for two years, and when she became pregnant was returned to Phoenix in 1996. Another female Asian elephant was loaned to the Phoenix Zoo to be Ruby's companion until she gave birth. In November 1998 Ruby began to show signs of labor, but... less