An elephant in Thailand has given birth to twins, which her caretakers have described as a "miracle". Staff at the Ayutthaya Elephant Palace and Royal Kraal said a 36-year-old elephant named Chamchuri gave birth to a male calf last Friday, and at that point they thought the delivery was over.

But while the staff were cleaning the first calf, they suddenly heard the sound of something falling. They realised that Chamchuri had given birth to another calf, and this one was female.

Straight after the second birth the mother became agitated, and the staff had to work hard to stop her trampling the calf to death. One caretaker was injured in the commotion.

According to the research organisation Save the Elephants, twins occur in only one per cent of elephant births, and twins of a male and a female are rarer still.

Veterinarian Lardthongtare Meepan said: "As soon as we moved the second calf away from its mother, it stood up. We were all cheering then, because it is a miracle."

Meepan, who grew up in the elephant park, said: "We always wanted to see elephant twins, but not everyone gets to see it, because it does not happen very often."

Citing the BBC.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.