Rare elephant twins born at US zoo: ‘Big surprise’

Asian elephant twins were born on October 24 at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo in Syracuse, USA. The zoo has now released the happy news because they first wanted to see what the twins would look like.

‘History’

Because elephant twins living after birth is very special and has never happened in America anyway, writes the zoo. Rosamond Gifford Zoo calls it ‘historic’. It is also remarkable that less than one percent of elephant births are twins.

For the zookeepers, the twins were a big surprise anyway. “Due to the impossibility and complexity of echolocation in elephants, we were unaware of the existence of twins.” The first calf was born around 2 am and weighed almost 100 kg.

Intensive treatment

Ten hours later a baby brother was born to everyone’s surprise. The second calf weighed more than 107 kg, but was significantly weaker than its brother. After days of intensive care by zookeepers, both cubs survived.

“Mali’s twins are an incredible achievement for zoos and for the conservation of Asian elephants worldwide.”