Tricia turns 65
By Judy Evans
@JudyEv (340118)
Rockingham, Australia
January 24, 2022 8:54pm CST
A good news story on our news bulletin last night told of the 65th birthday of Tricia, the Asian elephant from Perth Zoo in Western Australia. Tricia was named after Tricia Reschke, who was Miss Australia in 1962. Tricia the elephant arrived from Ho Chi Minh City in 1963. At 65, Tricia is one of the oldest Asian elephants in the world and has already exceeded the average life expectancy for her species.
Tricia celebrated with a cake made of her favourite treats. Her ‘bestie’, Permai, was allowed to share Tricia’s cake. Permai was very astute and picked the whole thing and dropped it on the ground making it much easier to pick out the best bits.
An article from 2018 states that, when Tricia dies, Permai and a male, Putra Mas, would be sent to other zoos to benefit from being part of a herd. I don’t know if that is still the plan. In the meantime, Tricia is loved and cherished by her keepers and zoo audiences.
Photo credit: Perth Zoo
16 people like this
16 responses
@wolfgirl569 (106323)
• Marion, Ohio
25 Jan 22
Tat is a long life. I like how smart Permai is. 
3 people like this
@wolfgirl569 (106323)
• Marion, Ohio
25 Jan 22
@JudyEv Maybe they will post it later
1 person likes this
@youless (112497)
• Guangzhou, China
25 Jan 22
Happy birthday to Tricia! In fact elephants can live for a long time as well as human beings. But sadly some of them got killed because greedy men took away their teeth. I heard that elephants are like human beings that can have the sympathy.
2 people like this
@Deepizzaguy (102889)
• Lake Charles, Louisiana
25 Jan 22
Congratulations on Tricia reaching 65 years of age.
2 people like this
@Deepizzaguy (102889)
• Lake Charles, Louisiana
25 Jan 22
@JudyEv That is very true.
1 person likes this
@Fleura (30401)
• United Kingdom
25 Jan 22
She looks good for her age!
Interestingly the other day I just read about another old elephant (there's a short video too) They are amazing creatures.
F_MU1 was an incredible elephant. When I first saw her I was awestruck, for she had the most amazing tusks I had ever seen. If I hadn’t looked upon her with my own eyes, I might not have believed that such an elephant could exist in our world.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (340118)
• Rockingham, Australia
25 Jan 22
That's amazing. I had a book by a woman who took in orphan elephants in Tsavo National Park. The book was called The Orphans of Tsavo and it's by Daphne Sheldrick. The 'Elephant Queen was from the same area. Thanks for the link. The beetle cam got some incredible shots.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (340118)
• Rockingham, Australia
25 Jan 22
Or she might be thinking 'it's a long time between cakes'. The video clip was funny. Tricia was feeling her way round the cake. Permai coiled her trunk round the whole thing and I thought she was going to walk away with it but she only went a few steps and threw it to the ground. Then they both got stuck in. lol
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (178748)
• United States
25 Jan 22
What a cool post. I love animal stories; and I love elephants. Is that the "cake" in the picture?
1 person likes this
@mildredtabitha (16126)
• Nairobi, Kenya
25 Jan 22
If only Tricia would speak to us I know she truly appreciates all the love she is shown. I hope the elephant lives many more years to continue being the world's oldest elephant in the world.
@sharonelton (28882)
• Lichfield, England
25 Jan 22
That's a nice old age. What age to elephants tend to live to on average?
1 person likes this
@sharonelton (28882)
• Lichfield, England
26 Jan 22
@JudyEv Wow! So she is quite a bit older than the average then! Go that elephant!
1 person likes this
@DocAndersen (54402)
• United States
25 Jan 22
wow 65 is a long life for a human! that is awesome for an elephant!
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (340118)
• Rockingham, Australia
25 Jan 22
There is another one in Australia that is over 60 apparently.
