Rare twin elephants in Thailand receive monks’ blessings a week after their tumultuous birth

By NAPAT KONGSAWAD
Associated Press

BANGKOK (AP) — Buddhist monks in Thailand have blessed twin baby elephants, one male and the other female, a week after their rare birth came close to being a tragedy. Their mother, Chamchuri, gave birth to the pair on the night of June 7 at a camp in Thailand’s ancient capital Ayutthaya, a popular tourist destination 80 kilometers  (50 miles) north of Bangkok. Twin elephant births are rare and male-female twins even more so. Caretakers at the elephant camp had been expecting to help deliver a baby, but when a second offspring dropped from her mother’s womb 18 minutes afterward, they were shocked. The elephant caretakers, who are called mahouts in Asia, had to act quickly to prevent the equally startled mother from accidentally injuring her new daughter.