Rare Twin Elephants Born For The First Time In 15 Years In Kenya

Elephants normally give birth and raise one calf at a time.

Liezel

• Published in Animals
• September 27, 2022

Many people consider having twins good luck because it's not every day that someone gives birth to twins. Apparently, it's the same thing with elephants.

Having twins in the elephant world is a lot rarer than it is with humans though. In fact, people may have to wait decades before there is this kind of birth.

Partly, that's because of how long the pregnancy period and rearing period it is for elephants.

The average gestation period for a female is a long 22 months, almost two years. After that, elephant cubs will then usually stay with their mums for four to six years.

Then, when it comes to twins, they only account for around 1% of elephant births. And because the mothers aren't always equipped with enough milk for two calves, some twins may die days after their birth.

In Kenya, people are eagerly monitoring the progress of one such twin elephant calves to see if they will make it past the vulnerable stage. They are the first twin elephants born there in 15 years and everyone has high hopes that they'll make it.

Keep reading to know more about the amazing and unique discovery at the Kenyan Samburu National Reserve.

The herd at the Kenyan Samburu National Reserve welcomed a rare event

The big elephant family of the Kenyan Samburu National Reserve just got bigger! The herd just recently welcomed a set of twin elephant calves which is only the second set of twin elephants born at the Save the Elephants sanctuary.

Guides from the Elephant Watch Camp made the amazing discovery and spotted the two adorable calves, a male and a female when they were less than a day old. Soon after, the news was made public.

Twins are very rare in the elephant world

“Twins are rarely encountered in elephant populations — and form around only 1% of births,” Iain Douglas-Hamilton, founder of Save the Elephants said. “Usually, the mothers don’t have enough milk to support two calves.

As a fact, the birth of twins has only ever been recorded once before in Samburu in 2006, but sadly both calves died shortly after. So, the next few days will be touch and go for the new twins, but we all have our fingers crossed for their survival.”

This is the mom's second birth

This is the second birth for Bora, the mother of the twins, who is part of the Winds II family, one of the largest elephant families in the reserve. She had her first baby back in 2017.

Check ou the twins here:

Save the Elephants was founded solely for the good of these majestic creatures

Save the Elephants was founded by Douglas-Hamilton in 1993 to “secure a future for elephants and sustain the beauty and ecological integrity of the places they live… and to develop a tolerant relationship between the two species.”

The elephant population in Kenya keeps growing every year

Before, the elephants in Kenya experienced a decline in their population but over the last three decades, rehabilitation efforts were a success and the elephant population in the country has more than doubled. It is estimated that there are now over 36 000 elephants there.

In 2021, another set of elephant twins was also born in Sri Lanka. For them, it was the first time in 80 years since such a thing happened.

Nature truly is an amazing thing and is always full of beautiful surprises. Hopefully, the two elephant calves make it to the other side of their vulnerable stage.

They deserve to experience and live the beautiful life they were born into. Here's to hoping for the best for the two of them and their big beautiful family as well.

Liezel