A PAIR of baby elephants feeding from the same mother have been spotted in a Sri Lankan national park, with officials today speculating the two may be a rare set of twins.

The young tuskers – which rangers estimate are 3 to 4 weeks old – were spotted in the Minneriya sanctuary about 200km northeast 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”, Director-General of Wildlife Conservation 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 believes they are twins.

Rangers are carrying out DNA tests on the herd’s dung to confirm, said Prasad.

If the results match, it would mark the first time wildlife officials on the Indian Ocean island sighted twins alongside their mother, he said.

The sighting was near an area where seven elephants died from poisoning last September, in an act blamed on farmers.

Nearly 200 jumbos are killed every year on the island, many by farmers after the animals stray onto their land.

Marauding elephants kill an average of 50 people annually, mostly when they enter villages near their habitat.

The country’s pachyderm population has declined to just over 7,000, according to the latest census, down from an estimated 12,000 in the early 1900s. – AFP, July 8, 2020.