Twins! Rare pair of African elephants born on Kenya reserve

A rare set of twin elephants were born in Africa at Kenya’s Samburu National Reserve for the second time in less than two years. 

Save the Elephants, a conservation group, shared the news with the public, saying researchers monitoring the animals recently spotted the mother, Alto, and her children.

They said the twins were about 3 to 4 days old when the team first spotted them. 

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They add that twins are rarely found in the elephant population, making up around 1% of births. 

Alto and her twins at Kenya’s Samburu National Reserve. (Credit: Gilbert Sabinga/Save the Elephants)

"Alto’s twins are the fourth set of twins ever recorded by our team in both Samburu and nearby Shaba National Reserves since Save the Elephants started monitoring elephants in the area nearly 30 years ago," David Daballen, Director of Field Operations, said in a statement. "Twin births are rare in elephant society and the fact that we’ve had two sets of twins from two different mothers in just under two years is incredible."

Alto is estimated to be 26 years old and is part of the Clouds herd, which are residents who stay in the reserve to be closely monitored. 

The mother also has two other calves estimated to be 4 and 9 years old. 

This story was reported from Los Angeles.