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Rare Elephant Twins in Tanzania

WCS researchers in Tanzania’s Tarangire National Park have two good reasons to be hopeful for the park’s savanna elephant population: a pair of rare twin calves who have recently joined their mother’s herd.

The scientists report that the mother elephant, named Eloise, estimated to be 57 years old, gave birth to the twins (one male and one female) in August 2017. That makes Eloise the oldest mother elephant known to have given birth to twins. It is estimated that one percent of all elephant conceptions result in twins.

“The elephants in and around Tarangire National Park are well protected by the park rangers and local communities," said Dr. Charles Foley, Director of WCS’s Tarangire Elephant Project. "And with the guidance of an experienced matriarch, we have high hopes for their survival. Every elephant calf born is a step towards the recovery of the species, and twins are even better.”

WCS staffers have been studying the Tarangire ecosystem’s northern subpopulation of elephants for 25 years.