Elephant In Bandipur Tiger Reserve Gives Birth To Twin Calves

Mysuru: In an exceptional incident, the officials of the forest department along with some tourists had witnessed something which they had never seen before in their lifetime.

An elephant gave birth to twins at the Bandipur Tiger Reserve on April 18. The tourists and the staffers spotted a herd of elephants, including the pregnant female, who was having a hard time giving in birth near the old ticket counter.

The female elephant then moved into a small water body, which is located just 200 metres away from the reception centre, for the safety of her offspring and for ease of delivery. Two tiny infants soon popped out of the water and they were seen swimming next to their mother.

"As the news spread, tourists started gathering with mobile phones and cameras to take photographs and videos. The wild cow elephant, which was still in postdelivery pain, was petrified to come out of the water as a large crowd had gathered. Everyone could see two small heads floating in the water," BTR Director Ramesh Kumar informed TNIE.

"Fearing that they would drown as all three were not coming out of the water, we cleared the crowd and guarded the area. After a long wait, feeling safe, the mother elephant emerged from the water body and then helped her calves out," he added.

Ramesh Kumar further went on to say that all three of them went back to their herd soon after the birth. He concluded by saying that the authorities are not tracking them down as they do not want to disturb them and add pressure on the newborns.

Meanwhile, this happened to be the second such birth of twin elephant calves and the first one happened back in 1994. 

The conservationists suggested that the twins must be monitored closely and their growth, survival and lifecycle patterns should be studied meticulously.

Elephant expert R Sukumar has said that such twins have been spotted in only 1 per cent of captive animals. But the percentage in the wild is unknown due to the fact that it is a rare occurrence.

The expert further added that he has been recording all captive breeding cases since 1926 and he has seen just four cases so far.

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