Rose Tu and her baby Lily at Portland Zoo

We took the lightrail to the Portland Zoo to see the newest baby elephant, Lily. Lily was trying to learn by imitating mom and she just couldn't quite get it right yet. Mom was busily eating twigs from a branch by holding the branch with her foot and then using her trunk to break the twig loose. Lily tried to do same by grabbing a twig with her trunk and shaking it back and forth, but the branch wasn't held down and the whole branch waved about. Lily knew she was supposed to do something with her foot and we could see her lifting and waving her foot trying to figure out its purpose while her trunk grabbed the twig. Mom, Rose Tu, would use her trunk to sweep debris (straw and edible leaves) into a pile and then pick up the pile with her trunk. The straw would fall away and she could eat the remaining leaves. Here are some pictures showing Lily with her mom Rose Tu. One of the pictures shows Lily nursing.