Thai elephant gives birth to first known male twins

In this photo taken on Saturday, twin elephants try to nurse from their 35-year old mother, shortly after they were born at Chumburi village in Thailand's northeastern province of Surin.

A Thai elephant has given birth to the world’s first known male twins, local media reported on Sunday.

The twin males were born to Phang Thong Khun, a 35-year-old in the north-eastern province of Surin, The Nation newspaper reported.

A crowd cheered when the twins were born about two hours apart early Saturday morning, elephant trainer Prapai Mokhorn trainer told

The Nation .

The still-unnamed baby elephants are the first known male twins.

Female twins named Phang Jum and Phang Jim were born in Thailand 15 years ago.

Twin pachyderm births are rare, and the survival rate is low. Domestic elephants number about 100,000 in Thailand a century ago, when they were employed in logging and transportation in most parts of the kingdom. Their numbers have since fallen to fewer than 4,000 with most working in the tourism industry.