Former Benson’s elephant draws fans at Mass. zoo

Elephants never forget anything – including where to find your wallet.

Those who work at Buttonwood Park Zoo in New Bedford, Mass., know to keep an eye on their pockets when they’re around Ruth, a 7,200-pound Asian elephant that has a very tricky trunk.

On Friday, elephant keepers Tina DeMedeiros and Shelley Avila recalled when Ruth snuck $20 from a visitor awhile back. Luckily, they were able to retrieve some of it – but in truth, Ruth still owes some guy $15.

“She likes to be the center of it all,” head zookeeper Bill Sampson said.

Ruth has achieved that status in her 22 years at Buttonwood, and it seems she was equally flashy in her time at Benson’s Wild Animal Farm in Hudson, where she and other elephants starred in daily shows.

The elephants performed tricks, such as “waltzing,” dipping on command, standing on their heads and playing to the crowd.

In 1978, Ruth was sold to a private owner. She then attended parades and fairs in New Hampshire for many years, said Shara Crook-Martin, Buttonwood’s curator, referring to documents and news articles compiled on Ruth’s history.

At some point, though, Ruth wasn’t well treated, according to the documents. An owner reportedly abandoned her in a trailer in Mendon, Mass., before Ruth was finally confiscated by the U.S. Department of the Interior.

The Boston Animal Rescue League then brought Ruth to Buttonwood in the summer of 1987, when she joined Emily, another Asian elephant that had just arrived from Baton Rouge, La.

“When she got here, she was really neurotic,” Sampson said, adding that Ruth was “a striker,” and would intentionally barrel into people.

“She did that mostly out of fear,” Sampson said. “She was a mess.”

Sampson, who was head elephant keeper for 15 years, then started working with Ruth. Gradually, she began to trust him. She started adjusting to a new routine, which still includes daily baths, exercise and training.

Sampson said the goal has to been provide good care, and also to give them mental and physical challenges.

That isn’t hard for Ruth, who’s very bright.

“I can teach her anything in five minutes,” Sampson said.

Ruth can lie down, sit and balance on her front or back legs, which she would have done in the wild to reach tree branches, Sampson said. At 51, she’s doing less of the balancing.

Occasionally, Ruth will swim in the pool nearby or graze with the keepers outside her regular stomping grounds in the zoo.

Ruth’s grayish skin looks like suede, but feels like tough, worn leather. She walks with an air of serenity in a slow-moving serenade. Her sloping back gives way to a round stomach, carved with wrinkles.

She came to Buttonwood with a partially paralyzed trunk, and no one is sure how it happened. Ruth has adapted, though, by curling it around a clump of hay and tossing it into her mouth, like a person would with a handful of movie popcorn.

DeMedeiros called her “one of the sweetest” creatures around, pointing out a nearly inaudible, happy rumbling that Ruth unleashes, similar to a cat’s purr. Avila recalled how Ruth makes snow angels in the winter and likes to topple snowmen.

“With people that love her, she wants to be in their lap,” Sampson said.

There seem to be plenty.

“Kids call out their names,” Avila said of Ruth and Emily with a laugh. “Kids with the same names think they’re named after the elephants.”

“She’s an old lady,” Crook-Martin said. “She’s a crowd favorite.”

Karen Lovett can be reached at 594-6402 or klovett@nashuatelegraph.com.