Wild animals have proved so many times what they’re capable of, when it comes to comfort each other. Even tough there are countless acts of kindness and unlikely friendships between animals of different species, it’s always heart-melting when a story like this surfaces.
Nevertheless a friendship between an ostrich and an elephant seems a bit too much, but not when it comes to Jotto and Pea. This unlikely, yet incredibly bonded duo met at David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust – an elephant orphanage in Kenya.
The baby elephant was just one-month-old when separated by his herd. Fortunately for him, he was rescued by volunteers at the Sheldrick Wildlife and he got a second chance to live. Not long after, the rescuers found Pea and Pod, two orphaned ostrich babies and they also took them to the sanctuary. But little they know, the elephants and the ostriches will get along so well.
“Just as the team were preparing the calf on the mattress to load into the plane, they were asked to rescue two orphaned ostrich chicks,” Cyprian, a keeper at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust recalls. “The chicks were handed over and were loaded onto the airplane with the rescued baby elephant and flown to Nairobi.”
As soon as they meet, Jotto and Pea found the love and compassion they’ve always missed, in each other. A special, unbreakable bond that helped them bond to move on after all they’ve been through. Now, they spend their time together playing and cuddling.
“Later they began to remain with the herds for the full day out in Nairobi National Park…,” the keeper said. “From that point they became part of the herd of Nursery orphans.”
“It is safe to say orphaned ostrich Pea most definitely believes she is part of the elephant herd and little Jotto is more than happy to enjoy a cuddle with his feathered friend,” the sanctuary wrote in a post. “Beautifully tender moments at the Nairobi Nursery, where these two orphans and many, many others, are being given the opportunity to heal and, when they are ready, to return to the wild.”
