Who was Tusko?
Tusko was a 14-year-old Asian elephant living at Lincoln Park Zoo in Oklahoma City. He was friendly, curious, and young - barely a teenager in elephant years.
He had a mate named Judy, a 15-year-old female who stayed close to him. They shared a quiet life behind green fences and old oak trees.
Tusko as a little one 💛
On August 3, 1962, three men decided to inject Tusko with 297 milligrams of LSD - the equivalent of 3,000 human doses. They wanted to study a rare elephant condition called musth.
They called it science. But it wasn't science. It was recklessness.
Judy - his best friend 🤍
Tusko collapsed within five minutes. His legs buckled. His body swayed.
Judy ran to him. She pressed her body against his, trying to hold him up.
It didn't help.
One hour and forty minutes later, he was gone. He was 14 years old.
