A national park in Kenya has just recorded the largest number of newborn elephant calves in recent history.
So far, 20 babies have been born at Amboseli National Park in 2020, absolutely a record number. Experts attribute this success to the extended rainy seasons in 2018 and 2019.
“The world needs happy news, with all the happenings lately. And so, we are looking for good things that are not bothered by the Covid problem.,” said Cynthia Moss, founder of the Amboseli Trust For Elephants.
“They are just going on with their lives down here, not focused on the pandemic or even a personal life and enjoying it this good weather right now that there is still so much grass.”
Elephant pregnancies last around 22 months, with the larger fetus usually taking longer to develop.
Mrs. Moss is expecting more births before the end of the year.
She said, “December is usually a high birth month, and we’ll expect more.”
“But now we have high numbers for the year, which is the highest number of babies born in one year at this game reserve.”
The total number of registered elephants in the park is about 1,500, including 392 square kilometers of national parks along Kenya’s border with Tanzania.
The increase in the park’s number reflects an increase in America more broadly.
Kenya is on the road to recovery after seeing its population devastated in the second half of the last century, according to Patrick Omondi of the Kenya Wildlife Service.
According to Mr. Omondi, Kenya had more than 160,000 elephants in the 1970s, but that figure dropped to 16,000 by 1989.
“Today, we can say with certainty that the population has increased to almost 35,000 elephants,” he said.
“We’re not out of the woods yet because there are some communities overseas that still see value in ivory.”
