A baby elephant at the Oregon Zoo had more tricks than treats when handlers gave it a small pumpkin to play with during an annual fall event where giant elephants smash half-ton pumpkins.

Weighing just 775 pounds, eight-month-old Asian elephant Tula-Tu is about the heft of one of the giant pumpkins; too small to smash them. But zoo handlers gave her a small pumpkin to practice with. Instead of squashing it, the little elephant dribbled the gourd around like a soccer ball, a video from the zoo shows.

Her elephant family at the Oregon Zoo enjoyed the large pumpkins on Oct. 16 at the annual “Squishing of the Squash,” a tradition that goes back to 1999 when a farmer donated a pumpkin weighing 828 pounds (376 kilograms). The donated pumpkins have gotten bigger, around 1,000 pounds (450 kilograms) this year, thanks to competitive hobbyists at the Pacific Giant Vegetable Growers Club.

To break open the gargantuan gourds, zookeepers present them to Tula-Tu's adult relatives like her brother and father who weigh slightly over 10,000 pounds (4,500 kilograms). They delicately place one foot at the top, and gently press down. The pumpkins crack with a loud pop, sending rind and seeds flying.

Past years' videos have shown midsized juvenile elephants putting both feet on top of the pumpkins but being too light — or lacking technique — so the giant vegetables don't burst.

This year the adults elephants smashed the massive snacks in front of a cheering crowd of zoo visitors, and then the family of elephants ate the many tons of squash fragments.

Asian elephants like Tula-Tu and her family are considered highly endangered, according to Oregon Zoo officials. A fragmented population of around 40,000 to 50,000 in the wild from India to Borneo. But there have been successful conservation milestones in recent years, including in Cambodia.