January 3, 2011
The Jungle Twins
Wonderful story from Michael Yon. He normally covers military actions but he was in Thailand and heard a story about twin baby elephants born in a remote village and went and found them. Start here: The Jungle TwinsIn October 2010, a rare set of elephant twins was born in Thailand, leading to vibrant media interest. The birth was a happy surprise partly because it had been the second set of twins born in Thailand in 2010. Many Thais consider this auspicious, and two sets of twins in one year was very welcome news in the Kingdom. Stranger still, the first set born this year were reportedly the first male twins in world history. I cannot verify these claims. In any case, I set off into the jungle to find the second twins -- both are girls -- and their mother.A long story but well worth the read, not only for severe critter cuteness but the social interest of the hill tribes-people -- a fascinating profile. Here is one of the babies gnawing on Michael's guide:
Thailand and surrounding countries such as Burma, Laos and Cambodia have been traditional elephant country. Neighboring Laos is still called �The Land of a Million Elephants,� though that the number is far fewer today. Some years ago I was in an upstairs museum in Venice, Italy examining very old maps of Asia, and the area that today is known as Laos was marked by drawings of elephants. In Thailand, elephant symbols, sculptures, paintings and t-Shirts are prevalent. There is even �Chang Beer,� or elephant beer sold in Thailand. When Thai children see a baby elephant they can be heard saying, �Luk chang, luk chang!� (Baby elephant, baby elephant!)
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