In June 2024, an Asian elephant in central Thailand gave birth to a set of twins. The event was considered a miracle, since elephant twins are a fleetingly rare occurrence.
Jamjuree, a 36-year-old elephant, birthed two calves — a girl and a boy. It’s the first official record of elephant twins of different genders born in Thailand. According to a statement, the shock of birthing a second calf sent the mother into a panicked frenzy.
Elephants have the longest gestation period of any mammal on Earth today. African elephants, for example, carry their young for 22 months. Asian elephants, meanwhile, average anywhere between 18 and 22 months. While the birth of twins is quite rare amongst elephants, twin calves of different genders is considered even more of a rarity.
Elephant twin rates occur only around one percent of the time, says Giacomo D’Ammando, Samburu Research Manager at the non-profit Save ...
