In 2020, Amboseli National Park welcomed its two sets of elephant twins, a male and a female named Amora and Aurora along with 229 other calves were born.
However, Amora is dead according to The Amboseli Trust for Elephants who said the twins were feeling unwell before the male succumbed.
“We regret to inform our followers that one of Angelina’s twins has a died. Both twins had been struggling for the past few months as they were not getting enough nutrition,” read the statement in part.
According to the Trust, rains arrived late last year, leaving many young calves a little emaciated. Male calves are particularly vulnerable, since they have higher growth rates than females, leaving male calves more vulnerable during dry season or drought.
In its 2020 annual report, it said rainfall represents both food availability for elephants, and an ability to disperse more widely over the ecosystem without needing to return to central swamps for water.
“We thought carefully about what to do since human interference is not always a good thing for wild animals.
Twins are so rare in elephants, and in many cases, one does not survive.
It has always been our policy to only intervene when the cause of the problem is man-made, or if the family has abandoned a calf and they are not able to survive alone.
Elephants fiercely defend their family members, so taking the twin from Angelina by force would have caused a huge amount of stress on the mother, the twins, and the rest of the family. Putting them through such stress would have risked the life of the remaining calf, as well as the captured twin.
Elephants grieve for the loss of their loved ones heavily, and putting the entire family through such a traumatic experience would have robbed them of the right to live a wildlife.
We, therefore, made the decision that the most ethical thing to do would be allow the family the chance to raise the calf and if he did not make it, then for them to have a natural grieving process. In other words, we had to let nature take its course.
We recently saw Angelina with the surviving female calf and she has dramatically gained condition.
Not having to compete over and share one milk supply has greatly benefited the female twin.”
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