Fairy tales where animals raise their own young. Amazing Adoptions in the Animal World

Continuing the topic that evokes the brightest feelings in us, I would like to once again draw your attention to animals that amaze with their boundless sensual kindness and mercy towards others.

Probably everyone read the fairy tale “Mowgli” in childhood, in which the “human cub” was raised by animals, and received from them the best qualities that a person can have

History knows many cases that happened not in a fairy tale, but in real life, when animals raised and cared for cubs that did not belong to them. They do not belong in the full sense of the word: they do not even belong to their variety.

The monkey you see in these photos has taken custody of several Bengal tiger cubs. Take a close look at the photographs and you will see with what tenderness and reverence she fulfills her maternal duty: how she holds her adopted children, how she plays with them, how she looks at them, and how she helps feed them.

After Hurricane Hanna devastated South Carolina, tigers at a local zoo began to behave aggressively towards the younger generation. Thus, the two small cubs were separated from the adults for safety reasons. Now the children are being raised by a 2-year-old chimpanzee, who takes education very seriously

The natural world is harsh. There is only one law here - the law of survival. Therefore, there is no place for weak cubs here. Most often, mothers themselves abandon such offspring, but there are cases when healthy children lose their mother for other reasons. In this case, they also face imminent death, unless a miracle occurs. And it comes true - abandoned cubs acquire new parents.

From time to time in the media you can read about unique cases of adoption in the animal world, when, for example, dogs take in a tiger cub or badger to raise and feed them. This phenomenon, when one species of animal takes in the cubs of a completely different species, has received its scientific name in biology - interspecies adoption.

There are many similar cases in the world. We will tell you about some now.

The most common cases most often involve feeding dogs. In zoos and nurseries, where interspecies adoption most often occurs, people place other people's cubs in dogs.

For example, in one Chinese natural park, a dog raised several tiger cubs, and quite safely. Their biological mother abandoned them because they were not born like everyone else. They were white. The dog accepted the new “cubs” without objection. Now not only does the dog protect the tiger cubs, but they won’t let her offend either.

Another Labrador dog named Laisha has already been a “foster mother” to 30 different animals, including a baby porcupine, three tiger cubs and a baby hippopotamus.

And in the Novokuznetsk Zoo, a cocker spaniel dog fed a refusenik lynx named Dunyasha.

The shepherd dog Jerry, who lives in a private Yalta zoo, took in two lion cubs after their mother, the lioness Elsa, abandoned them after a fire in the Crimean Nature Reserve. The animal was in a stressful state and immediately after birth refused to take care of its cubs. Jerry nursed the cubs with milk for several months and did not make any distinction between her own and her adopted cubs.

One Cuban dog named Yeti also became famous for its maternal instincts, becoming a “milk mother” for 14 piglets. Video

There are cases when some mammals become foster parents not only for other mammals, but also for birds. Of course, here it’s not so much about feeding as it is about care and attention. So the collie named Ben involuntarily became the “mother” for a brood of ducklings, since she was the first thing they saw immediately after hatching.

Another famous case was when two dogs, Kipper and Geoffrey, became foster parents for a fawn from Knowsley Safari Park near Liverpool. After this, the fawn never left its “adoptive parents.”

There are several other known cases involving fawns. The first was when a Korean farmer pulled a little deer from the river and brought it home, where a dog took charge of it. And the second case occurred in Russia, when in one of the zoo corners of Simferopol, the mongrel Shura adopted a roe deer, which was found in the forest next to its murdered mother.

One of them is a family of the cat Muska, her kittens and the wolf cub Kulichonka. He received his unusual name due to the fact that, together with two other cubs, he was born on Easter Day. But unlike his brothers and sisters, he was born weak and frail. Therefore, the mother immediately abandoned him and began to feed only two. The wolf cub was in danger of starvation. But the zoo staff remembered that a couple of months ago a cat wandered into their zoo and had recently given birth to kittens. When the “foundling” was brought to her, the cat immediately accepted him as her own. In addition to cat milk, the wolf cub also eats baby food, because the cat cannot satisfy him fully. Still, wolves are rather big animals.

The next heroine was the cat of one of the employees of the Amsterdam Zoo, who fed the cubs left without maternal attention, who are distant relatives of giant pandas.

And one cat from the Lviv region became a foster mother for three squirrel cubs, which were brought from the forest by her owner’s grandchildren. She gave her whole soul to these squirrels, since her kittens died. And when they grew up and began to climb trees, she ran after them and meowed desperately, calling them to her. Wild instincts still took over and the squirrels went into the forest, and the cat switched to a neighbor’s kitten, who was left without a mother.

But it's not just domestic cats that can show this kind of maternal care. Among big cats, such as tigers, there are also many cases of interspecies adoption. Moreover, some of them are very funny, because it is difficult to imagine how such a “parent” could experience real parental feelings for his “potential lunch”.

A striking example is the tigress from the Chonburi Zoo in Thailand (2004). For some unknown reason, she was inflamed with maternal feelings for the 5 piglets that were given to her a short period of time after the birth of the kittens. For a long time the pigs could not get used to the new “striped mother”, but with affection and care she still achieved her goal and they accepted her as their mother. But, despite this, she did not become a vegetarian. Therefore, just in case, the zoo staff “dressed” the piglets in striped skins so that the adoptive mother would not mistake them for lunch when she was asleep.

The next incident occurred in one of the national parks of Kenya, where a lioness took custody of the cub of a chamois she had killed. She defended her “child” from other relatives for two weeks. But still, this story ended sadly - when the lioness finally decided to rest and fell into a deep sleep, the chamois cub was eaten by a lion from their pride.

Not only dogs, but, as it turned out, monkeys can also become adoptive parents for tiger cubs. Thus, the chimpanzee Ajanta, who herself was groomed by one of the caregivers at the Sanctuary for Rare and Endangered Species in South Carolina, began to take care of two white tiger cubs.

They were separated from their mother because at that time it would have been dangerous for them to be near her. Their habitat was flooded as a result of Hurricane Hanna, and the mother of the cubs was under stress. The chimpanzee took charge of them and became a second mother. Not only does she play with the “babies,” but she can also bottle feed them. She borrowed all these qualities of a “caring parent” from her “human” mother.

And finally, another unusual tandem – an elephant turtle and a baby hippopotamus. This happened again in Kenya, in one of the national parks. After the 2005 tsunami, not far from the coast, a very unusual catch was caught in fishing nets - a 300-kilogram baby hippopotamus.

He was named Owen, in honor of the fisherman who caught him, and after some time he was sent to a natural park, where he was hooked up with a 130-year-old huge turtle. It is not clear why, but the cub immediately became attached to its new neighbor, although it was a male who did not feel any special friendly feelings towards him. But the kindness and naivety of the cub did their job. The male turtle also took a liking to him and now heroically tolerates some of his childhood pranks.

Of course, it’s a pity that the cartoon baby mammoth was naively mistaken, singing on the ice floe - “after all, it doesn’t happen in the world that children are lost.” Of course, not a single animal in nature has a guarantee that it will not suddenly be left without maternal care, affection and milk. A lot can happen - someone is ambushed by predators, someone does not have time to escape from a forest fire or flood, and someone carelessly crosses the path of a car. But even in a harsh world, where everyone, in general, is interested in the survival of their own species and personal DNA, unusual cases of adoption occur. And not only among collective animals prone to such behavior, living in large family groups (monkeys, lions), but also among notorious hermits who are extremely aggressive even towards the offspring of others of their own species (bears, seals, etc.). Such altruism could not go unnoticed – after all, it breaks all our usual ideas about the structure of the world!

Pets

Let's start with, perhaps, the simplest cases of adoption, which occur right next to a person. They can be called simple because pets - dogs and cats - grew up among people, surrounded by affection and attention, protected from the weather by a roof and fed on time. These animals differ from their distant ancestors, like heaven and earth, and the dog generally stood out in a separate category from wolves, becoming a devoted companion to man. It is not surprising that pets living “under the wing” of their owners experience many human emotions that were an unaffordable luxury for their wild relatives.

For example, in South Korea, a dog began to take care of a small deer that a farmer rescued and brought home.

In Hamburg, the shepherd dog Weasel adopted two wild boars that were suddenly orphaned, and her other German colleague, Katinga, adopted a tiny piglet named Polinchen - now the couple lives peacefully on the owner's farm.

Often, man's four-legged friends take on the care of their “opposites”: cats take care of puppies, and dogs feed orphaned kittens - like Chia, who is raising four meowing furballs.

And a miniature Chihuahua with the simple nickname HuaHua adopted... a chicken! And it doesn’t matter that it’s not a puppy, but a bird. Let it grow as it happens - apparently, the dog decided, dragging its newfound “child” in its teeth for walks.

But the poodle Pixie generally feeds little squirrels. The same cute rodent was adopted by the cat Emmy, who is also raising her own kittens. Her baby was named Rocky - apparently because the baby squirrel soon began to diligently imitate a cat's purr and learned to meow like its foster mother.

Another curious incident occurred on the farm of Edward and Ros Tate - a one-year-old hen named Mabel adopted four puppies and is now taking care of them. It would seem that she should have her own ideas about raising children - “don’t go there, don’t bite, and don’t make dad angry - otherwise he’ll crow at you.” But Mabel does not impose any “chicken stereotypes” on the kids, and neither the appearance nor the behavior of her charges bothers her at all. The owners say that this chicken saved its life - otherwise it would have been served on a platter for dinner long ago.

A similar bird union, by the way, was organized by another bird - a white homing pigeon named Noah, who saw two rabbits in an animal rehabilitation center who were orphaned a week after birth (as a result of an attack by a stray dog). Noah spent a long time asking the kids to come into the cage, so the staff had to let the bird inside. As a result, the pigeon not only remained to “hatch” the small rodents, but also serenely cleaned the rabbits’ “feathers.”

Zoo inhabitants

In an artificial habitat, be it a specialized animal park or a cramped enclosure in a city zoo, animals often lose their natural reference points. It is in captivity that females sometimes abandon their own offspring - and employees have to take care of them, feeding their newborns with bottles... But not always - touching adoptions also happen here.

A golden retriever named Isabella adopted three very rare babies - white Bengal tiger cubs, who were named Nasiru, Anzhiku and Sidani. A mother abandoned her tabby kittens just 15 hours after they were born. Now Isabella plays with the “younger generation”, allows the tiger cubs to almost ride her - and the whole family looks quite happy with life. In different provinces of China, zoo visitors were also able to see dogs raising lion and tiger cubs.

In addition, at the Taiyuan Zoo, a dog adopted two red panda cubs, and not far from Liverpool, at the Knowsley Safari Park, an orphaned fawn received two foster dads - the dogs Jeffrey and Kipper.

The press wrote a lot and for a long time about the amazing lioness named Kamunyak (translated from the Samburu language - “blessed”). During its life, this wild large cat adopted six cubs - not lion cubs or tiger cubs, but... antelope cubs, which, in fact, are what lions feed on. When a herd of these herbivores sees a predator in the grass, the antelopes take flight. This is exactly what happened when Kamunyak appeared, when, with flashing hooves, the mother of the first adopted one rushed away from the predator. But she did not touch the frightened cub, and for several weeks she raised him as her own. After this adoption, the lioness literally became a vegetarian - she stopped hunting, starved for a long time and soon became so weak that she was unable to protect the “antelope” from another hungry lion. After this tragedy, park workers had to nurse and nurse Kamunyak. And soon she was already taking care of a new artiodactyl cub, completely refuting the theory that predators can only think with their stomachs.

A separate topic is adoption from primates. They rush around with any living creature that comes to their hands - kittens, tiger cubs, puppies, rabbits, hamsters, cubs of other species of monkeys. But everything is individual for them, and the result of such adoptions depends on the character of the particular monkey. Some take a very responsible approach to raising their cubs, take care of them and do not allow their fellow tribesmen to offend them. Others treat foundlings like living toys, and they may even die without normal (natural) food, not to mention the absence of a model for behavior. Monkeys are often motivated to adopt by the loss of their own babies. The most shameless of them sometimes even steal babies from other females in order to babysit them. But more often than not, alliances between primates and other animals are positive.

In Mombasa Heller Park (Kenya), the little hippopotamus Owen was rescued from the ocean, where he was washed away by a flood. The 300-kilogram baby was placed in the enclosure of a 130-year-old giant Seychelles tortoise named “Wise Old Man” (in Swahili – “Mzee”). At first, dad disengaged from the annoying idiot who copied his behavior and slept next to him, but Mzee’s heart melted, and soon the strange couple became inseparable.

Concluding the topic of zoos, it should be noted that often, for the sake of commercial considerations, their workers act very immorally, deliberately separating parents from their babies. Another “sensation” like a crocodile adopting a zebra encourages the public to stand in line for a ticket, and, alas, no one cares about animal rights. Thus, in the Thai zoo “Sriracha Tiger Zoo” such substitutions have generally become the norm: the management thought of simply swapping the tigress and pig cubs, without any need. And then we wonder why animals don’t want to reproduce in captivity?

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Children should always be surrounded by love, warmth and care, and our lesser wise brothers prove this thesis by personal example.

website I have collected for you 16 touching examples of how parental love has no boundaries, sizes or species.

16. Lion Bondigger and dachshund Milo

At the Exotic Animal Park in Wynwood, USA, mother abandoned lion cub(as it turned out later, due to osteoporosis) and the workers made a decision move the baby into a separate enclosure with the dachshund Milo, which took full responsibility for raising the little king of beasts. By the way, two more dachshunds were brought in to take care of Bondigger, and they also easily found a common language with the lion.

15. Hippopotamus Owen and turtle Mzee

In Mombasa Park in Kenya, a small hippo who was separated from its family was rescued after the tsunami. The 300-kilogram poor fellow was given the nickname Owen and placed in an enclosure with a 130-year-old tortoise Mzee. At first Mzee did not like this proximity, but then his heart thawed, and for two whole years Mzee was Owen's mentor. The story of this couple is so famous that books and an entire website are dedicated to it.

14. Noah the Dove and the Little Rabbits

A pair of orphaned rabbits were sent to a rehabilitation center in Texas after a dog attack. There was already a one-legged pigeon Noah there, who himself needed treatment, but began to care for the babies and warm them. The rabbits quickly grew stronger, and Noah was subsequently entrusted with caring for the fawn and the baby squirrel.

13. Pretina the dog and the baby possums

After an attack on a family by opossums, recently born in Brazil and not even opening their eyes yet, orphaned. Luckily, they were found in time and turned over to behaviorist Stephanie Maldonado. But she also could not provide proper care, because the possums had to be fed every two hours. Then the dog Pretina came into play, who not only fed, but also warmed the babies, and even carried her children on her back like a real possum mother.

12. Tigress Sai Mai and the piglets

A tigress in a Thai zoo, herself once nursed by a pig, became a mother to several piglets, after losing her own kids born prematurely.

11. Wild boar Banana and a herd of cows

In the vicinity of Hamburg in Germany, a small boar settled in a herd of cows on a farm. Farmer Dirk Reese calls him Banana and admits that the stranger fits in harmoniously with his new family, the cows gently nudge him with their heads and, by all appearances, they like him. Most likely, Banana got away from his family, but was able to find a new refuge for himself. By the way, this is not the first case of cows caring for wild boars.

10. Albert the Sheep and Temba the Elephant

After 6-month-old elephant Temba was left orphaned and abandoned by his herd, staff at the Shamwari Wildlife Sanctuary in South Africa decided to save him. At first, Albert the sheep reacted aggressively to the stranger, but quickly thawed out and became the elephant’s friend and mentor.

9. Neve the Macaque and the Chick

The black macaque Niv, living in the Israeli zoo in the city of Ramat Gan, could not find a mate among her relatives and started taking care of the chicken from a neighboring enclosure. The primate takes care of the bird, and it always comes running when it is scared and seeks protection, spends the night next to his foster mother.

8. Sheepdog Ingo and owl Poldi

Poldi's owlet hatched much later than his siblings and was vulnerable to wildlife. After he ended up in the house of German photographer Tanya Brandt, he not only received a chance for survival, but also a wonderful guardian and friend, the shepherd dog Ingo. And their owner regularly takes the cutest photographs of this unusual couple.

7. Tita the cat and the baby squirrel

In Colombia in the Ruben Gaviria Park rescued a wounded baby squirrel and gave it to his cat to raise, who at that time was also feeding her kittens. The foster child was accepted quite willingly, and the baby soon grew stronger.

By the way, this is not the first time. The little squirrel, who was given the name Rocky, was not only fed by the cat Emma, ​​but also taught purr like a cat.

6. Gorilla Koko and kittens

Koko the gorilla is widely known throughout the world not only for her excellent mastery of more than a thousand words in sign language, but also for her love of kittens. Coco herself was unable to become a mother and has been gives his love to purring babies.

5. Lioness Kamunyak and antelope cubs

Lioness Kamunyak (“blessed”) adopted at least 6 antelope cubs after the mother of one of them was killed while hunting. The lioness could not give milk to the fragile cubs, so she called people for help, allowing them to feed the antelopes under her supervision. Unfortunately, the lioness was unable to protect all “her” cubs from attacks by the pride of lions.

4. Pugs Kapa and Asya and tiger cubs

In the zoo of the Sochi sanatorium “Oktyabrsky”, two pugs Kapa and Asya adopted four tiger cubs who were abandoned by their mother, who had already abandoned her offspring twice. The pugs quickly put not only their puppies on their feet, but also their striped adoptees.

In life practice, there are often cases when animals in captivity lose their natural guidelines and take on raising other people's cubs.

The artificial habitat of animals affects them in such a way that females abandon their newborns. In this case, workers at a zoo, or a specialized park, or other animals take care of them.

Animal adoptions

Animal adoption is not uncommon; there are many known cases of such adoptions. So in several zoos you can see dogs raising tiger and lion cubs.

At the Taiyuan City Zoo, a dog adopted two little red pandas, and at Knowsley Safari Park, two dogs became fathers to an orphaned deer.

Monkeys are experienced nannies

The process of adoption among monkeys is very interesting. They are very good with young animals of all types, be it puppies, kittens, rabbits, tiger cubs or anything else. How a monkey will treat a baby is very individual and depends on the disposition of a particular individual. Some take care of the foundlings and do not allow others to harm them, while others treat the foundlings as toys.

Often the loss of one's own child forces a monkey to adopt someone else's. There are also those who can steal a baby from its parents.

In one of the gorilla protection centers lives the gorilla Koko, who is called an experienced foster mother, because she has given birth to more than one litter of abandoned kittens.

But it’s not just mothers who become adoptees. A male macaque from Bali has adopted the cutest ginger kitten.

Pigs and dogs are caring mothers

In a Thai zoo, a pig feeds a litter of tiger cubs.

This year, the Sochi Zoo had to urgently find a nurse for two Ussuri tiger cubs. For some reason, the real mother tiger abandoned her cubs.

The adopted children were taken into her family by Cleopatra, a Shar-Pei dog. Tabby kittens, like puppies, are supplemented with milk and receive a share of the necessary affection and attention.

As we see, such touching adoption of animals by other species does not only happen in the wild.