credit, France Press agency
Only 1% of elephant births are twins.
A rare birth of a twin elephant occurred this week in a national reserve in northern Kenya.
The two children, a boy and a girl, and their mother Bora were first seen by tour guides on a safari in the Samburu Reserve over the weekend.
They are only the second pair of twin cubs found by the local conservation organization Save the Elephants.
The charity says twins account for just 1% of elephant births, with the last known case recorded in 2006.
This is a critical time for the puppies, because the last set of twins born 15 years ago did not survive long after birth, the organization’s founder, Ian Douglas Hamilton, told Reuters news agency.
He added that mothers often do not have enough milk to feed both babies.
credit, France Press agency
Elephant Bora with her two newborn babies
African elephants have the longest gestation period of any mammal. They carry their young for about 22 months and give birth every four years.
The ivory trade and loss of vital habitats have placed elephants on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s list of endangered species.
However, Kenya’s elephant population has grown in recent years, according to the country’s first wildlife census published last year.
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