On his big day, Sam will get to chow down on a cake made by the zoo's Executive Chef Paul Warner, but he won't be the only one celebrating. The zoo will throw a party in Sam's honor on Sunday, Aug. 23, and all zoo visitors are invited.

The popular Asian elephant pulled in a whopping 68 percent of the zoo's online votes. Her closest contender, Coco the chimpanzee, lagged behind with 18 percent of the vote, while last year's winner, Mali the colobus monkey, placed third with 14 percent.

The "little guy" now weighs in at around 770 pounds, nearly 500 pounds more than his birth weight.  And it appears he's into sports. "He loves playing with a blue ball, knocking it around with his trunk soccer-style," said Bob Lee, senior elephant keeper at the zoo.

People stood in line for hours Saturday to get their turn to see the Oregon Zoo's newest Asian elephant. Once they entered the viewing area, they spoke in whispers and snapped lots of photos.