Father's Day isn't until Sunday, but the Oregon Zoo announced Packy as Zoo Father of the Year for 2008 a few days early.

kgw.com/zoo photo

Packy and offspring.

The Asian elephant dad was the overall winner with nearly 45 percent of the online votes, squeaking by last by last year's winner Atishwin, a California condor, with 41 percent.

Kiku, a colobus monkey, was the third runner-up with 14 percent.

"Packy is a the most famous animal at our zoo, so it's only natural that he'd be chosen as father of the year" said Oregon Zoo Director Tony Vecchio.

Forty-six-year-old Packy is dad to Sung-Surin (Shine) and Rama, both 25-years-old.

"We just finished a campaign for Zoo Mother of the Year, and found it was a fun way to initiate a relationship between the public and the highlighted animals," said Tony Vecchio, zoo director. "As the public reads about the nominees, all of which belong to species that are either threatened or endangered, we hope they'll come to understand and care about the challenges facing these animals in the wild."

That in mind, the zoo is encouraging people to log onto its official Web site and vote in the online poll. Online ballots will be accepted until 5 p.m. Thursday, June 12 and then the zoo will announce which animal won the honor on Friday, June 13, at 10 a.m.

If you’re planning to visit the zoo, it opens at 9 a.m. daily and is located five minutes from downtown Portland, just off Highway 26. The zoo is also accessible by MAX light rail line. Zoo visitors are encouraged to ride MAX or take TriMet bus No. 63 to the Oregon Zoo. Visitors who take the bus or MAX receive $1 off zoo admission. Call TriMet Customer Service, 503-238-RIDE (7433), or visit www.trimet.org for fare and route information.

General admission is $9.75 (12-64), seniors $8.25 (65+), children $6.75 (3-11), and infants 2 and under are free; 25 cents of the admission price helps fund regional conservation projects through the zoo's Future for Wildlife program. A parking fee of $1 per car is also required. Additional information is available at www.oregonzoo.org or by calling 503-226-1561.