Dear MEL Topic Readers,
Rare twin elephants born in Thailand 'miracle'
Elephants live together in herds. When a female elephant gets pregnant
and the time to give birth approaches, the female will seek close contact with
another female in the herd for protection during labor. Sometimes the entire herd
circles around a female giving birth, protecting her from all sides. A female
elephant gives birth while standing, which takes only a few minutes. A single
calf is usually born with head and forelegs first. On average, newborn calves
stand about 1 meter high and weigh 120 kg at birth. The newborn can stand on
its own within minutes of birth and walk within one or two hours. Twins have
been documented, but are quite rare. Recently, a 36-year-old Asian elephant in an
elephant park in Ayutthaya, the ancient capital of Thailand, gave a surprising birth
to twins of a male and a female, an extremely rare combination. The male calf,
which weighed only 60kg, came out first, and both the mother elephant and caretakers
were happy with the expected birth. Then the 55kg female unexpectedly came out,
which surprised and panicked the mother. The also-surprised caretakers acted immediately
to separate the newborn from the panicked mother for protection. The twins were
smaller than average newborns but they are now in good shape. Elephants are regarded
as sacred in Thailand, and park visitors are excited to see the rare twin
elephants.
Read the article and learn about the extremely rare elephant
twins.
No comments:
Post a Comment