A 36-year-old elephant has given birth to twins at a zoo in central Thailand – a rare surprise for the keepers and the mother herself.

According to the BBC, keepers had only planned for Chamchuri to give birth to a calf on June 7 at the Ayutthaya Elephant Palace and Royal Kraal, about 80 kilometers north of Bangkok. While the team cleaned the cub and helped it to its knees, Chamchuri’s surprise came: a girl.

Buddhist monks from Wat Traimit in Bangkok blessed the mother and twins in a ceremony on Friday, The Associated Press reported. Both calves were treated to bananas and cartons of milk.

The video shows the mother and her twin babies healthy and calm, which was not necessarily the case during the birth.

Frightened mother breaks leg of caregiver who was protecting her surprise baby

The surprising female calf was a shock to Chamchuri, who then panicked.

Staff held the mother down to prevent her from stepping on her daughter, injuring a nurse, the BBC reported. Charin Somwang, 31, broke his leg while holding the mother down and said he did not feel the extent of the pain until he arrived at the hospital.

“It’s normal for the young mother to always try to kick or push the baby,” Somwang told the outlet. “I was afraid she might break the baby elephant, so I went to the front and tried to keep the mother away from the smaller baby.”

According to the BBC, footage posted on social media showed how difficult it was for the keepers to separate the female calf from her mother, whose hind legs still had blood from the birth.

Male-female elephant twins are particularly rare

According to the research organization Save the Elephants, twin births occur about once in elephants, but births of males and females are even rarer.

Elephant mothers often lack the milk needed to feed two calves, said Iain Douglas-Hamilton, founder of Save the Elephants, in a 2022 report.

When Chamchuri’s female calf stood up, the team cheered, veterinarian Lardthongtare Meepan told the BBC.

“We always wanted to see elephant twins,” Meepan said. “But not everyone gets to see it because it doesn’t happen often.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Elephant welcomes rare twin calves after surprise birth in Thailand