Karnataka hosts one of the highest elephant populations in the country. And recently, the South Indian state saw the addition of two more elephant calves; more amazingly, they are twins!
Twins are uncommon in elephant populations. According to experts, mothers usually do not produce enough milk to support two calves. Therefore, the forest officials will have to keep a close watch on the pair, especially considering the calves got into trouble almost immediately after their birth.
Wild elephant with her twins.
The wild mother elephant gave birth to the twins by a waterbody in Bandipur, Karnataka — about 213 kilometres from Bengaluru. The mother elephant then began trumpeting, which attracted the attention of the safari vehicle drivers. One of the drivers promptly called the forest department when he witnessed what was happening.
When officials got there, they realised that the twins were stuck in a ditch, with the water level up to their neck. The newborns struggled to get out, and while the mother protected them fiercely, there was little she could do to help them out.
After helplessly watching them grappling for an excruciating hour, the officials decided that they had to intervene.
Because it was difficult to reach the twins in the presence of their mother, the Department staff used a jeep acceleration sound to drive the mother elephant away.
“We constituted two teams. One of them distracted the mother elephant and drew it away from the site while the other team helped the calves get out of the water,” said Ramesh Kumar, Director, Bandipur Tiger Reserve.
Scared by the presence of humans near her babies, the mother had climbed a rock and continued to observe from there. Later, the forest personnel jumped into the ditch and lifted the twins one after the other, effectively risking their lives because mother elephants become extremely aggressive when it comes to their newborn babies.
Fortunately, the mother elephant watched quietly from above the entire time, venturing down only after the forest staff had moved away from her babies. It then rushed to embrace the calves and feed them, before sauntering into the forest.
The forest staff made certain that the twins were not overtired, and thanks to the department’s timely intervention, the newborns made it out safely. Several tourists have since sighted them at Bandipur.
Elephant twins account for just 1% of births in the wild, which makes this encounter an even rarer event.