Mother Alto gave birth to twins in Samburu National Reserve, a national park in Kenya. The nature conservation organization Save the Elephants announced the news via Instagram.
“Alto has stunned us from the clouds with her twins. Estimated to be just a few days old, her beautiful calves were spotted for the first time this week by researchers in the Samburu National Park,” the organization wrote.
The second twin
Although rare, he is actually the second elephant twin to be born in the park. Two years ago, a male and female calf were born. The female was unable to survive because the weather was very dry in northern Kenya at the time, making it difficult for the elephants to find food.
Elephant Rescue is optimistic about the chances of the new twins’ survival because it has rained a lot recently and the mother is receiving a lot of support from the rest of the herd.
The news has been welcomed in Kenya, where the African elephant is currently listed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species.
The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), a government organization in Kenya, currently estimates that there are more than 36,000 elephants in Kenya, compared to 170,000 in the early 1980s.
22 months
According to KWS, the country’s elephant population is now increasing by more than 5 percent annually. “Continuous monitoring has led to this success,” the organization told ABC News.
Mother elephant Alto had to wait a while for her twins to come. The average gestation period of an African elephant is 22 months.
