Animal Friends which few people get to see.

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We see some of our pets becoming good friends, and sometimes at a zoo or wild life park we may also see a variety of animals being friends outside of their family, pack or species partially due to not needing to hunt for food or being raised by humans, but also we have found some animals in the natural world that are showing that being good friends with another species is more common than we think, even when normally they are predator and prey. We may never know why some of these friends do happen, but we can still enjoy seeing that it does happen. Here are some images of these “different” friendships, some which may surprise you.

In the wild, there are associations such as this type of crab and sea urchin that depend on each other for hunting and protection. The urchin crab gets carries the the fire sea urchin around and the sea urchin provides a safe place for the crab to shelter from predators or even as a weapon for the crab. The fire sea urchin is poisonous.

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In September 2019 a wildlife camera in Africa captured this shot of a buffalo giving a ride to a genet which is a small cat related carnivore. It was reported that the same genet had also been riding on a rhino. Certainly a safe place and good viewing platform for the genet.

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This mouse was seen getting a ride on a frog during the early onset of the monsoon rains in India.

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A baby hippopotamus was rescued after surviving a devastating a tsunami and was taken to an animal sanctuary in Kenya, where it became good friends with a rescued tortoise.

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This Great Dane was reported in 2010 to have adopted the fawn after it was abandoned by it’s mother, and the story featured on a video by National Geographic.

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This Buffalo has two birds getting a ride and obtaining some protection, plus the smaller bird is doing some cleaning of insect parasites on the Buffalo.

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The monkey and friend were captured working together gathering for food.

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Zebra‘s have these Oxpecker birds on them to eat their ticks and other parasites that annoy Zebras. It is a relationship that works well for both, with the Zebras free from ticks and the birds get a good meal of ticks. The birds also alert the Zebras when the birds sense danger, so it is an extra good partnership for the species.

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This image from a wildlife reserve shows a monkey and a Zebra with a good relationship, which provides the monkey with a safe place and the Zebra with a warning against dangers.

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This friendship between an ostrich and a baby elephant is a good example of what happens when animals are in the safety of a wildlife park. Very comforting to both.

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These images were caught on a wildlife camera showing the trusting friendship between a deer and a wolf. Being both day and night images with time records, shows they stayed together for mutual benefit.

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These Mongoose have teamed up with a Red River Hog which provides a warning system for the Hog while it is resting and provides the Mongoose with protection from predators.

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The squirrel and the small bird show they can be friends.

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A cat and a pet pig enjoying each others company.

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This deer was seen in Buffalo, New York to be guarding this Canadian Goose for the complete time she was on her nest, and later was reported to be protecting the baby goslings from crows.

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