Handout photo from Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka’s main elephant orphanage recorded a rare twin birth on Tuesday as a 25-year-old named Surangi gave birth to healthy male calves.
According to elephant expert Jayanta Jayawardene, they are the first elephant twins born in captivity in Sri Lanka since 1941.
“Both the calf and the mother are doing well,” Renuka Bandaranaike, head of the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage, told AFP.
“The kids are relatively small, but they’re healthy.”
He said that Surangi had given birth to a male calf in 2009 and this was her second time. The father, 17-year-old Pandu, is one of 81 residents of the orphanage, which was set up in 1975 to care for destitute wild elephants.
The facility, a tourist attraction, has been closed to visitors due to coronavirus restrictions.
Last year, wildlife officials said the first known twins born in the wild in Sri Lanka were sighted at the Minerea Sanctuary in the east of the island.
The government has unveiled strict rules to protect animals considered sacred in the majority Buddhist nation.
Many wealthy Sri Lankans – including Buddhist monks – keep elephants as pets to show off their wealth, but reports of ill-treatment are widespread.
Those who violate the new law, their elephant will be taken into the care of the state and could face up to three years in prison.
Official records show that there are about 200 domesticated elephants in Sri Lanka and an estimated 7,500 in the wild.
Capturing wild elephants is a criminal offense punishable by death, but prosecution is rare.
Activists say more than 40 elephant cubs have been stolen from wildlife parks in the past 15 years.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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