An Asian elephant in Thailand gave birth to “miracle” twins at the end of last week. Twins are rare among elephants, especially fraternal boy/girl twins like these babies. The mother elephant named Jumjuree initially tried to kick away the second baby, possibly not realizing it was also hers.
In the wild, these babies likely wouldn’t make it. “The survival of twins [. . .] is rare as often the mothers don’t have enough milk to support two calves,” Save the Elephants said in a press release after the 2022 birth of wild elephant twins in Kenya’s Samburu National Reserve.
This latest set of twins live with their mother at the Ayutthaya Elephant Palace and Royal Kraal in Thailand. Nonprofit organization Elephantstay shared the birth on social media, calling the babies “miracles of nature.”
The birth wasn’t without some drama, though. Phys.org reports the male twin was born first, and when the female twin was born, “the mother went into a frenzy and attacked her new arrival.” A staff member jumped in to save the newborn, and the mom elephant ended up kicking him in the process.
Thankfully, no humans or animals were seriously injured in the ordeal, and the mother has now accepted both babies. Staff members help the tiny twins reach their mother to nurse, and staff are supplementing mom’s milk with pumped milk to ensure both calves get enough.