Rare: IFS officer on birth of twin elephant calves at Jim Corbett

Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer Himanshu Tyagi explained why the incident of an elephant giving birth to twin calves in Jim Corbett is "rare and accounts for < 1% of births". "A single...calf weighs...70-120 kg at birth. Carrying two...is metabolically enormous for the mother," he said. He also cited long gestation period of "22-24 months" as one of the reasons.