A 36-year-old Thailand elephant has given birth to a rare set of twins. This happened at the Ayutthaya Elephant Palace and Royal Kraal in central Thailand. It is believed that this happens in only one per cent of elephant births.
The veterinarian was expecting only one baby calf, but soon another one dropped, a female this time around.
Meanwhile to save the calf, the elephant trainers, had to quickly separate the newborns from their mothers to prevent accidental harm.
Why is this a miracle?
Twins are an exceptionally rare occurrence in elephants, happening in only about one per cent of births.
The last time such occurred was in August 2020 at the Udawalawe National Park in Sri Lanka.
Other recent occurrences happened in Tanzania at the Tarangire National Park in October 2017; in South Africa at the Pongola Game Reserve, in January 2014 and in Kenya, at the Samburu National Reserve, March 2010
The rarity of such an occurrence is why the arrival of these twins was hailed as a miracle by the staff.
“We’ve always wanted to see elephant twins but not everyone can see this because it doesn’t happen a lot,” said Ms Meepan, who grew up at the elephant park, and is herself a mother of twins.
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Charin Somwang, a mahout -elephant trainer- said he broke his leg while delivering the elephant of the baby.
He said, “It’s normal that the new mother will always try to kick or push the baby… I was afraid that she might break the baby elephant, so I put myself forward and tried to block the mother from the smaller one,”
Despite the chaos, the successful birth of these twin calves is drawing significant attention and joy from visitors, stressing both the challenges and the wonders of elephant care in Thailand. “I am always happy when I see an elephant give birth, it doesn’t need to be twins. Elephant babies always bring joy,” said Mr Somwang, their mahout who is recovering from injury.
