Awesome news for conservationists and wildlife enthusiasts all over the world, after an elephant orphanage in Sri Lanka announced the birth of a pair of twin elephants. The two calves birth – which are in a perfectly health condition – came as an extremely rare occurrence, as they are the first twin born in the country, in nearly 80 years.
The adorable baby elephants – both males – were born at the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage. Both of their parents, the 25-year-old mother, named Surangi, and the 17-year-old father, named Pandu, are residents of the orphanage. Although it is extremely rare for an elephant female to give birth to twins(the chances are less than 1%) both the mother and her babies are in a perfect condition. However, the two calves are smaller than usual.
“Both the babies and the mother are doing fine,” Renuka Bandaranaike, head of the orphanage, told BBC. “The babies are relatively small, but they are healthy.”
The Pinnawal orphanage found on a hilly region in the center of the country, is home for 83 elephants, including the newborn calves. Founded in 1975, the orphanage rehabilitated and rescued dozens of elephants. Currently, it is estimated that around 7,500 elephants live in Sri Lanka. Nevertheless, the last time when elephant twins were born happened in 1941, BBC reports.
Surangi is at her second pregnancy, after she gave birth to her fist calf, also a male, in 2009. An elephant females can have around four birds during her life.
Watch the two adorable twins in the video bellow!
