Animals and their 'pets'

(Fair Use)

Humans are known to regard pets as family members.  People even refer to themselves as “parents” of their interspecies housemates.

It turns out that pets have pets as well.  A French bulldog that was living at the Lehnitz sanctuary near Berlin, Germany “adopted" three-day-old motherless piglets.  This dog not only snuggled the babies to keep them warm, but also attended their bottle feedings.

At a sanctuary in Kenya, a baby hippo sought refuge behind  an 130-year-old huge tortoise named Mzee.  Mzee took this mentoring role seriously and began taking walks with the young hippo.

The Gorilla Foundation reports that on her 44th birthday, great ape Koko “adopted two kittens.”  After nurturing them as though they were her own, Koko became noticeably energized.

Similar examples abound, some quite surprising: cats mothering squirrels, dolphins nuzzling whales, ducks hatching chicks, and dogs nursing tigers.

Resources

http://www.livescience.com/59097-interspecies-animal-moms-photos.html 

Copyright May 18, 2017 by Linda Van Slyke   All Rights Reserved