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| The young tuskers - who rangers estimate are three to four weeks old - were spotted in the Minneriya sanctuary in Sri Lanka (AFP Photo/SUMITH PILAPITIYA) |
A pair of
baby elephants feeding from the same mother have been spotted in a Sri Lankan
national park, with officials speculating Wednesday the two could be a rare set
of twins.
The young
tuskers -- who rangers estimate are three to four weeks old -- were spotted in
the Minneriya sanctuary about 200 kilometres (125 miles) north-east of Colombo,
grazing with a herd of about a dozen elephants.
After
observing the pair from a distance, officials are confident enough to "say
they are twins," Department of Wildlife Conservation Director-General
Tharaka Prasad told AFP.
The two
were also photographed feeding from the same cow on Monday by renowned conservationist
Sumith Pilapitiy, who also told AFP he believed the two were twins.
Rangers
were carrying out DNA tests on the herd's dung to confirm, Prasad said.
If the
results matched, it would mark the first time wildlife officials on the Indian
Ocean island had sighted twins alongside their mother, he added.
The
sighting was near the area where seven elephants died from poisoning in
September, in an act blamed on local farmers.
Nearly 200
elephants are killed every year on the island, many by farmers after the
pachyderms stray onto their land.
Marauding
elephants kill an average of 50 people annually, mostly when they stray into
villages near their habitat.
The
country's elephant population has declined to just over 7,000 according to the
latest census, down from an estimated 12,000 in the early 1900s.
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