Rare elephant twins born at South African game reserve

African elephant twins were born at Pongola Game Reserve, a privately-owned game reserve in northern KwaZulu-Natal on Thursday. Scientific evidence suggests that there is less than one percent prevalence rate of elephants twinning and even less of a chance that both twins survive into adulthood, making the birth of these young elephant twins an incredibly rare natural occurrence.



The yet unnamed twins were born to a 31-year-old elephant cow called Curve, so named for the curve of one of her tusks. She birthed three offspring before delivering the twins, all of which were male. Paternity of the twins points to Ingani, a 44-year-old elephant bull that died slightly more than a year ago. The sex of the twins remains unconfirmed as Curve is being given enough space and a fighting chance to beat the mortality odds for the twins.

Elephant specialist, Dr Ian Whyte, the retired projects manager: Large Herbivores: Department of Scientific Services at the National Parks Board, Kruger National Park said: “Though a few cases of twinning have been reported in the Kruger National Park, an examination of the reproductive tracts of over 1,200 adult cows culled in the Kruger National Park during population control operations did not yield a single case of twins.



“Mortality of one of the twins usually occurs as the increasing demand for milk by two calves cannot be met by the mother and the less dominant of the two calves usually cannot gain access to its share. One rather famous matriarch in Kruger dubbed MaMerle produced a set of twins in 2002, both of which survived to post weaning age, and she then produced a second set in 2006, both of which had survived to more than a year old when she was last seen. Curve needs a stress free environment to beat the odds.”