Sub-Saharan Africa
Sputnik brings you all the most recent information, major events, heroes and views, including breaking news, images, videos, analyses, and features.

'Double Joy': Rare Twin Elephants Born in Kenya's National Reserve

© Photo Roy TerlienElephants hugging each other with their trunks. Photo from X @ste_kenya
Elephants hugging each other with their trunks. Photo from X @ste_kenya - Sputnik Africa, 1920, 25.11.2023
Subscribe
Elephants are considered a vulnerable species, with an estimated 415,000 remaining on the African continent, although certain populations are "being poached towards extinction," the World Wide Fund for Nature stated. In parts of East Africa, numbers of elephants continue to decline.
An elephant has given birth to female twins in Kenya's Samburu National Reserve, a UK-registered Nairobi-based conservation organization, Save the Elephants, shared good news on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday.
The recent birth of twin elephants comes approximately two years following the birth of two successive babies by Bora from the Winds elephant family for the first time in decades, the organization said.

"Hooray! Yet another set of twins (both female) have been born in Samburu National Reserve almost two years after Bora from the Winds gave birth to twins for the first time in decades. Meet Alto’s double joy who were first spotted by our researchers this week," the organization wrote on X.

The birth of twin elephant calves is truly a rare event, as not every pair of twins survives. In 2006, for instance, twins born in Samburu died shortly after birth, according to media reports.
In this Oct, 27, 2019, photo, an elephant feeds on leaves from a tree in Mana Pools National Park, Zimbabwe. Wardens and wildlife lovers are trucking in food to help the distressed animals.  - Sputnik Africa, 1920, 02.05.2023
Sub-Saharan Africa
Africa's Elephant Population Has Dropped 95% in 100 Years, WWF Says
Kenya is home to 36,280 elephants, according to data from the first national census of all the country's wildlife in 2021. This represents a 12% increase in the population since 2014.
Despite this progress, elephants still face risks, including by hunting for ivory. Thus, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature estimates "at least 20,000 African elephants are killed illegally for their tusks" every year.
Newsfeed
0