An orphaned baby elephant has been adopted by an unusual mother…a sheep.
Amanzi the elephant is being cared for at the Hoedspruit Endangered Species Center in South Africa after a difficult beginning of life.
But now he has found a new friend in ‘Mother-Sheep’, Lammie and is inseparable from her.
The center released a touching video of the couple playing together.
Adorable footage shows Amanzi putting his trunk on Lammie’s back before the two intertwine their heads.
They enjoy walking together, making sure they stay close, not wanting to be separated.
The love that Lammie is showing him is far from the elephant’s treatment before.
In February, Amanzi became trapped in a drain near a dam at the Phalaborwa Copper mine in Limpopo, northeastern South Africa, and had to be rescued by mine workers.
Although the men waited for the herd to return, they ended up taking the calf to an animal shelter because it was dehydrated and exhausted.
It was taken away by a truck and after the elephants rejected it, the non-profit organization Elephant Alive helped and took care of it.
But sadly, his attempt to reintegrate with a herd failed, and Amanzi was bullied by others leaving him underweight and dehydrated.
The elephant was taken to the Hoedspruit Endangered Species Center to help it heal.
However, dehydration still remains an ongoing concern.
Yesterday, the center posted on Facebook: ‘Amanzi was sadly fed up with formula feeding. He is being rehydrated again under the supervision of Dr Peter Rodgers. ‘
They added: ‘We are constantly consulting with elephant orphanages in Kenya, Zambia, Zimbabwe and those who have raised older elephants in Botswana.
‘To our disappointment, the feedback has remained the same…here’s how…some days of strength and courage followed by these dips until they get bigger and more stabilized.
‘From a veterinary perspective, he can only be treated symptomatically. One day at a time. Keep him in your thoughts’
Amanzi certainly received public support, and the scene of Lammie and Amanzi sparked love from everyone on social media.
Amazingly, though this isn’t the first time care sheep have befriended another animal.
In 2014, the center released a video of Lammie playing with an orphaned rhinoceros named Gertjie, nicknamed Little G.
The adorable footage was captured by assistant curator Karien Smit, who wanted to show the friendship that has developed between the inseparable pair.
In the video, baby rhino Little G watches his friend Lammie the goat run up and down a winding dusty road in a typically chaotic way and he tries to imitate him with memorable results.
The two friends run around each other and also bump into each other in a spontaneous and carefree manner.
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