An elephant in Sri Lanka gave birth to twins for the first time in nearly 80 years, wildlife authorities said. The twins, both males, were born to 25-year-old Surangi at Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage in the central hills of the country, an orphanage spokesperson said.
Their father, 17-year-old Pandu, is also an orphanage resident. “Both the calves and the mother are doing fine. The babies are relatively small, but they are healthy,” Renuka Bandaranaike, head of the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage, said.
Sri Lankan elephant experts said twins born to a domesticated elephant in the country was last reported in 1941. Elephants have only a 1-per cent chance of having twins, with most twin births occurring in wild African elephants, according to the Society for the Protection of Animals Abroad. They can have about four to five babies in their lifetime, and some species of elephants can be pregnant for a whopping 22 months.
One of Sri Lanka’s biggest tourist attractions, the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage was set up in 1975 to save injured wild elephants and abandoned calves that were unable to survive in the wild. The orphanage now houses more than 90 elephants, and the twins will be added to the list. Now, a video footage showing the grey calves on their feet and eating leaves around their mother’s legs is going viral. — Reuters
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